Life of Tai-ping-wang, chief of the Chinese insurrection

I

GIFT QF
HORACE W. CARPENTIER

0

• LIFE

OP

T A IP I N G-¥ A N G

Cfeuf 0f % (Kfeintse |nsurnrii0n.

BY

J. MILTON MACKIE,

AUTHOR or "COSAS DK ESPANA," " LIFK OF SCHAMYL," KTC.

.>. ' ■> '

« <» •

*' There ia no god bat Qod ; and Tai-ping-wang is the younger brother
of Jesus."

NEW YORK:
DIX, EDWARDS & CO., 321 BROADWAY.

1857.

D5 740

rARPENTfcn

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by

DIX, EDWARDS Sc CO.,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United State* for
the Southern District of New York.

::: V:M•^.:l\

MILLER A HOLMAN,
Printers & Stereotypers, N. Y.

PREFACE.

The facta contained in this volume have been derived principally
from the English journals published in China, and the official
Peking gazette ; from the communications of missionaries, both
Protestant and Roman Catholic ; from the correspondence of Mr.
"H. Marshall, Commissioner of the United States to China, pub-
lished in Ex. Doc, No. 123 ; from a collection of the proclamations
of the insurgents, translated by Mr. W. H. Medhurst, sen. ; and
from a pamphlet on the visions of Hung-Siu-tshuen, by Theodore
Hambcrg, missionary of the Basle Evangelical Society, to which
this work is indebted, also, for translations of several of Tai-ping-
wang's poems.

f The Roman Catholic authorities on this subject, at least, the re-
ligious part of it, are to be accepted with a certain degree of cau-
tion, inasmuch as the Nanking insurgents have derived their
knowledge of Christianity exclusively from Protestant sources;
and the same stipulation most be made respecting the statements

iy|86281

VI PREFACE.

yof many public journals, both in and out of China, from the fact
that the foreign commercial and diplomatic interests, though
ostensibly neutral, have a decided bias in favor of the imperial
government, and against the party of the reformers, who, besides
having caused considerable temporary interruption to trade, threaten
to break up, ultimately, the whole system of opium-smuggling. ,

CONTENTS.

PAQB
I.

Introdaclion 1

II.
He is born, and called Fhuh 7

III.
Is sent to the school of master Ting-Jin 11

IV.
Ooes into white on the death of his mother 15

V.

Studies the horn- t>ook of WangPihau ...... 20

VI.

Works in the paddy-field, and tends buffaloes .... 24

VII.
Takes the name of •' Elegant and Perfect," and goes to a rhetori-
cian 28

VIII.
Attends the examinations for literary degrees in Canton - • 32

IX.
Becomes a schoolmaster, and denies the Dragon of the Eastern

Sea 38

VUl CONTENTS.

PAGX

X.
Buys a wife 44

XI.
Becomes a Confucian philosopher 52

XII.

Consults a fortune-tellor, and meets with the Evangelist, Liang

Afah 61

XIII.
Falls ill, and is treated by Doctors Ki-hi, Vang-sou, and Tchong-

king-ho 66

XIV.
Is taken up to heaven in a trance 79

XV.

Is delirious, and chases demons through the earth - • - 89

XVI.
Reads the tractjs of Liang Afah, and baptizes himself - - - 95

XVII.
Makes proselytes, and orders a sword 100

XVill.
Goes to the mountains of Kwang si 106

XIX.

Writes rchgious essays and poems 114

XX.

Visits an American missionary in Canton 122

XXI.

Makes another journey to Kwang-si 126

XXII.
Establishes a form of worship 130

XXIII.
Pestroys the image of Kan-wangye 134

CONTENTS. IX

PAOI

XXIV.

Suffers persocation, and goee home • 138

XXV.

Preaches in the fields I44

XXVI. y

Qirds on his sword, and returns to Kwang-si • • • • 149

XXVII.
Foretells the insurrection I54

XXVIII.
Unfolds the standard of revolt 158

XXIX.

Is opposed by the generals of Hien fung 162

zxx.

Claims to be inspired, and aided by heaven 169

XXXI.

The exploits of the viceroy, Siu-Kwong-tsin 176

XXXII.

The army and court of the Taiping dynasty • • • • 186

XXXIII.
The pretended confessions of Tienteh 192

XXXIV.

The descent of the Heavenly Father 198

XXXV.

Schemes of the currency doctors 90tf

XXXVI.

He marches northward 212

XXXVII.
Descent of the Yang-tszekiang 220

XXXVIII.
Nanking 226

X CONTENTS.

PAGE

XXXIX.

The Porcelain Tower 232

XLI.
Expedition against Peking 237

XLI.
The deeds of Heangyung and Ke-8hen 243

XLII.
•"The Tai-ping theocracy 250

XLIII.
■^^,^0 Insurgent Creed 256

XLIV.
v/l'he new CelesUal State 263

XLV.

Intercourse with foreign nations ....-.- 268

XLVI.
Probable iasue of the insuiTection 274

Appendix 277

"I felicitate myself," says Tien-Ke-shih, " that I was born in China;
and constantly think how very different it would have been with me, if
bom beyond the seas, in some remote part of the earth, where the people,
deprived of the converting maxims of the ancient kings, and ignorant of
the domestic relations, are clothed with the leaves of plants, eat wood,
dwell in the wilderness, and live in the holes of the earth. Though living
in this world, in such a condition, I should not have been different from
the beasts of the field. But now, happily, 1 have been bom in the ' cen-
tral flowery kingdom.' I have a house to live in ; have food, tea, and
elegant furniture; clothing, caps, and infinite blessings. Truly, the
highest felicity is mine !"

TAI-PING-WANG.

INTRODUCTION.

During the last half-a-dozen years there has been
taking place in China one of the most important re-
volutions which has occurred in recent times. In it
are involved, to a certain degree, the destinies of
about three hundred millions of souls, or one-third
of the human family. The oldest form of civilization
on the face of the earth, whence came originally the
inventions of the mariner's compass, and of gunpow-
der, the arts of printing, and of engraving, the manu-
facture of silk, paper, and porcelain, is, in its turn,
passing through one of those troublous periods of
transition which seem to be the method of Divine
Providence for improving the condition of man-
kind.

The causes of this movement are of the gravest
1

XAO-

2 TAI-PING-WANG.

character ; for they are to be found in the mutual
hatred of the Chinese and Tartar races, in the ineffi-
ciency of the government, in the corrupt and oppress-
ive practices of the mandarins, and in the contempt
entertained by the people for both their rulers and
their gods. To this state of popular feeling the late
\yar with England has not a little contributed ; for
It dcin'OrisjLr§,tQ(J, in the eyes of all intelligent China-
cmeijj.the inferiority of their civilization ; while time,
jw{tk.its;ex.pei:ici'cp>3 and observations, aided by the
circulation of Christian books and the teaching of
Christian missionaries, has sufficed to convince many
of them, at last, of the folly of their idolatry.

Since its establishment, the empire of the "central-
flowery land," which appears to us occidentals to
stand in such stately repose — a reign of perpetual
peace — an example of ever-duriug immobility — has
experienced no less than twenty-six changes of dy-
nasty ; but these have generally been attended with
no great modifications of the system of either govern-
ment or religion. Thus, the Manchu-Tartars, who
have held the throne of the *' celestials" during the
last couple of centuries, made no alterations, on their
accession to power, beyond seizing upon all the high
offices of state, and compelling the conquered to
adopt their style of tunic, open at the side, and their
shaven brows and hair braided in a tail.

INTRODUCTION. 3

The revolution now in progress, however, contem-
plates more radical changes. It is the advent, not
so much of a new style of dress, and of wearing the
hair, as of new ideas. It is not only a revolution,
but a reformation. It has thrown ten thousand idols
into the waters of the Yang-tsze-kiang, and pro-
claimed the doctrine that God is one. It demands
the disuse of that fatal drug which is drying up the
energies of the entire nation ; teaches temperance
and morality ; and introduces the observ^ance of a
Sabbath, and the institution of public worship.

The religion of these iconoclasts is, indeed, far
from being pure Christianity. But it is a step to-
wards it. In fact, during the entire history of the
human race, very few nations have, at one single
stride, made greater changes in their religious sys-
tem than are now being made by the Chinese ; and
it cannot be otherwise than that the ideas, however
imperfect, of Christianity introduced by the insur-
gents, will eventually produce a great and permanent
iTect upon the national mind. For it is in the
nature of the sacred truths of which the millions of
China are now getting sight, though as in a glass
darkly, to shine brighter and brighter unto the per-
fect day. Their images of idols, thousands upon
tdousands, have floated down the Yang-tsze-kiang
to the sea ; and no refluent tide will ever bring them

4 TAI-PING-WANG.

back to the shrines where is now worshiped the
one true God.*

It is, indeed, within the reach of Christian hopes,
that nations will hereafter be converted from their
errors in a day; but, thus far in the history of our
religion, such conversions have always left a good
deal of work to be done on the morrow. The pro-
selytes made by the decrees of Constantine, and the
German hordes baptized by order of Charlemagne,
were an approximation to the ** perfect man" of the
New Testament, probably not many degrees nearer
than the God-worshipers of Tai-ping-wang. The
inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, though they
have been for a long time converted from idolatry,
have not even yet been saved from the vices intro-
duced, in part, along with Christianity. So that, if
the Chinese insurgents still continue that practice
of polygamy, which is as old, in all eastern countries,
as the days of Abraham ; if they have been prodigal
of human life on their march to empire, as have been
all the great conquerors in the Orient, not excepting
those of times the most recent ; if, while they prac-
tice the rite of baptism, they appear to confound it,
in a measure, with common ablution, and offer up
with their prayers to God sacrifices of tea and rice,

* See Note A, Appendix.

INTRODUCTION. 5

roasted pigs and oxen ; it should be remembered
that in the religious progress of nations, as well as
of individuals, we are not at liberty to " despise the
day of small things."

As for the acts of barbarity laid to the charge of
the insurrection — and many of them truly — it will
be time enough to throw the first stone at these
God-worshipers, on that account, when the atroci-
ties of the war between Protestants and Catholics,
in the cruel days of Tilly, and the horrors of the
Spanish inquisition, in those of the gentle-hearted
Isabella, shall have been expunged from the history
of Christianity. And if the insurgent chief has come,
from having sincerely believed himself '* warned of
God in a dream," and instructed by heavenly inti-
mations, to make use of the pretense of inspiration
for the purpose of controlling and urging on his fa-
natical followers in a holy war against the idolaters
and their prince, whosoever's memory reaches back
as far as the illuminations of the camp of Cromwell,
or even the fervors of the conventicles of the modern
Quakers, will hesitate long before putting this extra-
ordinary prophet-warrior out of the pale of Christian
hopes and charity.

Tai-ping-wang, it is important to be observed,
however, has never had any connection with the
rebel bands of whose atrocities at Canton, and

6 TAI-PING^-WANG.

Shanghai, so much has recently been said in the
public journals. These are either members of the
Triad society — a secret organization, established seve-
ral years ago with the design of overturning the
imperial government — or adventurers associated to-
gether for the purpose of taking advantage of the
present disturbed state of affairs, to seize upon such
towns and cities as might be unable to defend them-
selves. Neither have embraced the religious views
of the Nanking insurgents, and are, therefore, not
acknowledged by the latter as brethren, or even
allies.

II.

HE IS BORN, AND CALLED PHDH.

Tai-pino-wang, known in China, previously to
the insurrection, under the name of Hung-Siu-
tshuen, was born in the year eighteen hundred and
thirteen. The place of his birth is a small village
in the district of Hwa-hien, and province of Kwang-
tung. It is situated in a level, fertile, and very
populous rice-growing region, having the White
Cloud mountains, near Canton, on its southern
horizon, and those of the Nan-ling range on the
northern.

Here the family of the Hungs has resided for
about a century, it being a branch of a numerous
clan of this name, now scattered over the north of
Kwang-tungi and one or two other provinces ad-
joining. From time immemorial, its members have
belonged to the class of agriculturists, which, in
China, takes rank next after that of the literati.
Several of the immediate, as well as of the remote.

8 TAI-PING-WANG.

ancestors of Siu-tshuen having been remarkable
both for their virtues and their length of days, he
may well be said to be of good blood. His father,
Hung-Jang, w^ho died since the commencement of
the insurrection, was a venerable old man, who, for
many years, had been intrusted with the manage-
ment of the ancestral estate of the Hung family, and
had also held the office of senior of the village, con-
ferred upon him by the free suffrages of its inhabij;-
ants.*

By his first wife, who was of the Choo tribe,
Hung-Jang had two daughters and three sons, Siu-
tshuen being the youngest. This name of Siu-
tshuen, however, is what is called his " literary
name," and was selected by himself after arriving
at years of understanding. But at his birth hb
father called him Phuh.

The house in which Phuh first saw the light,
stands in one of the back streets of the village. It
is of one story, is built partly of wood and partly
of mud, and is covered by a roof of tiles. A nar-
row door opens from the street into a hall, which
has a kitchen and several sleeping apartments on
either side, and at the opposite end a family or sit-
ting-room. The whole establishment is scarcely

* Compare Hamberg's Pamphlet.

HE IS BORN, AND CALLED PHUH. 9

more than thirty-five or forty feet in length, by
twelve or fifteen in breadth. But here swarmed
three generations of the Hungs, besides half-a-dozen
idols, a buffalo, one or more pigs, a small stock of
fowls, a couple of dogs, and a cat without a tail.

The young Phuh, however, was by no means
confined to these narrow quarters, but spent the
greater portion of his early childhood on the mar-
gin of a small pond or mud-hole, situated in front
of the village, and fed by a considerable part of its
drainage. This ill-scented spot being a play-ground
for children, besides a resort for the ducks and
geese, the dogs and beggars of the village, Phuh
here developed his young muscles in childish sports,
and learned such lessons as the rough-and-tumble
with both boys and brutes could teach him.

When about four years old, he having been acci-
dentally pushed into the water beyond his depth,
and being drawn out by one of the older lads by the
queue, his father, from fear of similar accidents either
at the pond or the neighboring canal, tied a hollow
gourd behind his back, to prevent his being drown-
ed. But when the little fellow made his appearance
at the play-ground with an appendage so unusual
in his native village, though common enough on
the rivers, the boys set up a great shout, and so
laughed over poor Phuh that he was fain to run

10 TAI-PING-WANG.

for home as fast as his legs could carry him, while
the whole posse of brats followed, crying, " Eh !
gourd boy — gourd boy!"

As the child came blubbering into the presence
of his father, the latter relieved his back of the
gourd, but laid on in its stead the bamboo. This
was Phuh's first whipping. He never forgot it, and
said that it did him good — as was the case, in fact,
with a great many similar ones afterwards.

But though the rod was not spared, the father
early set his heart upon his youngest-born son.
The other boys were brought up to till the ground,
but this one was destined, almost from the breast,
to be a scholar. Having, it would seem, something
like a presentiment of the future greatness of this
child of his affections, Hung-Jang often said to his
wife that the little Phuh would live to make their
old age honorable ; and, fondly stroking the little
fellow's queue, as he sat upon his knee, made his
boast that it was a full inch longer than that of any
boy of the same age in the village.

III.

HE IS SENT TO TEE SCHOOL OP MASTER TING-JIN.

When Phuh reached the age of seven, he was sent | 5
to school. Up to that period the only lessons he had
received were those of morality and good-behavior,
given him by his parents, and more especially his
mother, who was a worthy, kindly woman, and
possessed of good common sense. Later in life, her
son always spoke of her with the most profound
respect, and traced back his earliest moral impres-
sions to the prayers she taught him to repeat before
the little idol in the hall of the house, and to the
few simple maxims she made him commit to memory
from the writings of Confucius.

It was a great day for Phuh, when, having been
thoroughly scrubbed, both himself, his breeches, and
his tunic, and having had his queue neatly braided
down his back by his mother, and tied with a new
string, he was presented by his father before the
pedagogue of the village, to be enrolled on his list
of pupils. A contract was thereupon made between

12 TAI-PING-WANG.

the parties, whereby the master of the rod was to
give lessons by the year for a compensation consist-
ing of two dollars in money, fifty pounds of rice, and
of tea, salt, lard, and lamp-oil, each, one catty. He
was also to supply the necessary paper, ink, and
pencils — Phuh himself furnishing nothing but brains,
and they quite empty. When these preliminary
formalities had been settled, the son of Hung-Jang
was written down a scholar.

The teacher, Ting-Jin, by name, was a member
of the lowest class of literati, called siu-tsai. Not
having succeeded at an earlier period of life in obtain-
ing official employment from the government, he
had for years followed the profession of a pedagogue,
and occupied the school-house situated in front of
the village, at a little distance from the pond.
He was now getting in years ; his queue was gray,
a thing rarely seen in China; and he wore a pair of
spectacles about the size of tea-cups, heavily framed
with tortoise-shell, and firmly tied by strings behind
his cerebellum. He was a kindly man, of unwearied
patience, and of clear, though limited ideas. If
sufficient time were allowed him, he never failed to
teach his pupils much that they never could forget ;
for he was as systematic in all things as he was
slow. Whenever it was necessary, he did not hesi-
tate to enforce the observance of even the minutest

» > • J* ' '

••••- .*.>.

HE IS SENT TO THE SCHOOL, ETC. 13

rules of the school by a resort to the bamboo, a large
number of which useful reeds, of different sizes, were
duly arranged on the wall behind his elevated arm-
chair. The very sight of these, as, for the first time,
Phuh entered the school-room, made his legs tingle.
A bamboo stool was assigned the new-comer, and
he was directed to occupy a place at a small table
around which several other lads were seated. This
continued to be his post for three long years, during
which he diligently learned the arts of reading,
writing, and ciphering. His first studies were in the
sounds of the Chinese characters, which he learned
by repeating them in a quick, bold tone, after his
master. After a time, he was put to copying these
characters; and for this purpose, was supplied with
a goose of porcelain, containing water, a cake of ink,
a small black stone slab, a hair pencil, and paper
made of either cotton, or the pith of the bamboo. By
pouring a few drops of water on the slab, and then
rubbing the cake in it, he formed his ink, as it was
needed, and with his pencil copied the characters
from slips placed beneath semi-transparent paper.
To learn to write and pronounce the Chinese cor-
rectly, requires several years of toil, even for a
native ; and not until a good deal of progress has
been made by the tyro in these preliminary pro-
cesses is he taught the meaning of words.

14 TAI- PING- WANG.

When Phuh was not engaged in writing,, he sat
swinging himself backwards and forwards, and
chanting lists of words with their various intonations.
The same was done by the dozen or more pupils of
whom the school consisted, so that the room was
as noisy as ever was Babel. But Ting-Jin had an
ear for every pupil, and great as was the din, he
rarely failed of hearing and correcting the slightest
inaccuracy of intonation or accent.

Month in and month out, Phuh sat chanting on
his stool, or copying over and over again the same
hieroglyphics, or casting up accounts in his abacus
or reckoning-case. Thus, at the end of three years
of continual perseverance, he had made considerable
progress in learning to read, write, and cipher ; he
knew the points of the compass, and the order of
the months ; he knew the names of many animals
and other natural objects ; he had been well
instructed in the moral duties of childhood ; had
been thoroughly drilled in the divers forms of
obeisance and salutation ; was become an expert in
chin-chining the images of the gods, and the tablet
of Confucius in the school-room; and though in
these three years his back had not escaped the
bamboo, he had suffered less from it than the majo-
rity of his associates.

IV.

KB GOES INTO WHITE ON THE DEATH OF HIS MOTHER.

About this time, the wife of Hung-Jang dying
suddenly, Phuh was removed from school ; the red
cord was taken out of his queue; and, instead of his
blue cotton tunic, a white one was put on for
mourning.

Hung-Jang, who had been sincerely attached to
his wife, showed his affection for her by scrupu-
lously performing all the ceremonies usual after the
death of a member of a family, and doing every-
thing in his power to secure her happiness in the
land of the genii. No sooner had the breath left
her body than he closed her eyes, put in her mouth
a small piece of silver, and going to the top of the
house, made a considerable hole in the roof for her
seven senses and three souls to escape through.
The red lantern which hung suspended outside the
house was exchanged for a white one, and a slip of
paper, on which were written the name and age of
the deceased, was posted up by the door. _.)

16 TAI-PING-WANG.

The corpse having been duly laid out on the hall-
floor in the best clothes of the departed, a Buddhist
priest was sent for, who, on payment of a few cash^
prayed the one of the three souls, which was believed
to be in purgatory, out of that place, and wrote a
letter of recommendation which was sent through
the fire to the rescued spirit, to enable it to gain
admittance into the *' paradise of the west."

The fortune-teller of the village, likewise, having
been called in, was engaged to look out a propitious
spot for the grave. By help of his compasses, and
after the careful examination of different kinds of
soil, in order to find a sufficiently dry one, this per-
sonage selected a burial-place on a barren hill at no
great distance from the village. The situation, as
he averred, would be highly satisfactory to that one
of the souls which was to dwell there, inasmuch as
it would have from the eminence a pretty good view
of all the water there was in the neighborhood, viz.,
the canal and the duck-pond.*

The priest and the geomancer were satisfied with
a few cash; but it cost the large sum of five or six
dollars to purchase a coftin. This was of hard wood,
nearly four inches in thickness. After the body
had been placed in it, and covered with quick-lime,

• Compare "Annals for the Propagation of the Faith." vol. xiii.,
p. 190.

HE GOES INTO WHITE, ETC. 17

it was well plastered together and varnished, and
was then allowed to remain in the hall three weeks
and a day. During this time, the relatives of Hung-
Jang frequently came to condole with him, and
Phuh was sent around among them to solicit some
substantial aid towards defraying the expenses of
the funeral.

The day of the interment at length arrived, it
having been chosen because it was set down in the
calendar as a lucky one. At an early hour, the rela-
tives of the deceased assembled, by invitation, at
the house of Hung- Jang, and all moved in proces-
sion to the grave. The fortune-teller went before,
and was followed by a band of music, consisting of
a player on a bamboo flute and a beater of a gong,
who together performed a death-march sufficiently
mournful. At intervals, this discordant dirge was
aided by the wailing of two or three hired mourners,
and by the outcries of the bereaved children, Phuh
especially being deeply affected on the occasion,
although, up to that time, the delight of seeing
himself in a white jacket had apparently gone far
towards making up for the loss of his mother.

Some person having been sent forward to scatter
so-called paper money in the way, in order to satisfy
the needs of all evil spirits who might happen to be in
the neighborhood, and all hungry ghosts also having

18 TAI-PIx\G-WANQ.

been appeased by a feast of meats to which they
were summoned by sound of gong, the mourners
arrived without hindrance at the place of burial.
Thereupon prayers were said ; a few drops of
samshu were poured put as a libation ; a volley of
fire-crackers was let off; and a large amount of
paper was burned for the use of the soul in para-
dise. A house, furniture, wearing apparel, a ser-
vant, and a good supply of cash, all cut out of
paper, were sent through the fire to the other world,
together with a writing previously drawn up, and
signed in the presence of witnesses, stipulating that
the before-mentioned articles of property should, on
their arrival in Hades, be duly delivered over to the
person whose name was inscribed in the bond.

This ceremony over, the mourners returned to
the house of Hung-Jang, where a feast was made
of the baked meats which had been offered in sacri-
fice, and which, by the help of a liberal supply of
rice-wine, and samshu, were all readily swallowed,
notwithstanding the sacred use which had pre-
viously been made of them rendered them as taste-
less as the white of an egg.

For thirty days after the decease, the family did
little else than mourn — Phuh, like the rest of the
male members, going about with a neglected queue
and unshaven head. It was a great relief to him,

HE GOES INTO WHITE, ETC. 19

however, when, at the expiration of that time, he
was allowed, in company with his father and
brothers, to visit his mother's grave, for the pur-
pose of decking it with plants and flowers. With
pious hands they planted the wild white rose,
which, in its season, would weave about the head
of the -conical-shaped mound its garland of purity.
Lower down, were set the bulbs of a species of
lycoris, which in autumn spreads to the sky a
purple to vie with that of the sunset ; while, here
and there, were stuck an anemone japonica, that,
late in November, when all other flowers are gone,
still lingers, and blooms even about the departing
footsteps of the year.*

• Compare Du Halde's '' China."

V.

HE STUDIES THE HORN-BOOK OF WANG-PI HAU.

After Phuh had mourned six months, and a
step-mother had been brought into the house, he
returned to school. Ting- Jin, who was much at-
tached to his promising pupil, received him kindly,
and, kneeling down before the tablet of Confucius,
implored upon his young head the blessing of the
great philosopher. A stool was then given him at
a table near the master, while in his hands was
placed the horn-book of Wang-Pihau, containing
the Trimetrical classic, the Millenary Classic, the
Five Classics, and the Four Books.

Though somewhat daunted at the sight of all this
ancient and ponderous learning, Phuh set himself
to the work of conning it with as much patience as
was displayed by the good woman, celebrated in
Chinese annals, who, wishing for a needle, under-
took to make one by rubbing down a crow-bar. He
swung himself to and fro more bravely than before,

HE STUDIES THE HORN-BOOK. 21

and chanted his sing-song with 'a loud voice. As
from day to day portions of his task were commit-
ted to memory, he duly made his bow before his
teacher, gave up his book, and turning his back to
Ting-Jin, with all his bamboos, repeated like a
parrot, the, to him, quite unintelligible wisdom of
the ancients. Thus, by diligently beating his
brains, aided by an occasional blow across his
shoulders from master Ting, he had, at the end
of a year, hacked the entire horn-book of Wang-
Pihau.

Then it was that Ting-Jin first began to instruct
his pupil respecting the signification of the words
and maxims of which such large supplies had been
stored away in his memory. He commenced a
course of daily lectures, or comments, which were
only less unintelligible to Phuh than the text itself.
He explained the doctrines of Confucius by citing
those of Mencius, and illustrated whatever might
be obscure or important in prose by long recita-
tions from the poets. However, mixed up with all
his classical quotations, which were generally fetched
from as far back as the days of the Chin or the Chau
dynasties, and with certain somewhat metaphysical
notions on the subject of morals and politics, which
had been taught him in his youth and never
changed afterwards, there was not a little that a

22 TAI-PIN(J-WANG.

lad twelve years of age could perfectly comprehend.
Thus, in commenting on the sayings of Chu-Hi or
Wan- Wang, Phuh would be lectured on the duty
of keeping his clothes clean, and his face washed.
An explanation of a maxim of Confucius would not
be brought to an end without Phuh's being told
several times over to honor his father and mother,
his elder brothers, and all men in authority. A
quotation from Mencius w^ould not fail of giving
occasion for Phuh's being re-indoctrinated in
such rules of politeness as to make a low bow
when he was spoken to by elderly persons, and
to chin-chin the gods, and tablets, with pious
gestures.

Meanwhile, the persevering son of Hung-Jang
still kept on learning to read, write, and reckon in
his abacus-case^ as well as to hack the classics. His
mind gradually grew, by feeding on the bulky stores
of food which were constantly being piled up in it.
By the age of fifteen he had committed to memory
not only the learned works before-mentioned, but
all such portions of Chinese history, and literature,
as are commonly taught in the schools. He could
write a fair hand, could read with correct tone and
accent, and could even construct very tolerable
verses. When, therefore, there was nothing more
that Ting- Jin could teach his pupil, he sent him

HE STUDIES THE HORN-BOOK. 23

home with his benediction on his head, together
with a prophecy that he would some day be
crowned with the honors of the Han-Lin, or " Forest
of Pencils Society." So Phuh left sch9ol.

VI.

HE WORKS IN THE PADDY-FIELD AND TENDS BUFFALOES.

To pass from the school to the paddy-field, was to
take a step Dot exactly in the direction of the *' Forest
of Pencils Society;" but his father being at that
time in straitened circumstances, Phuh was obliged
to lend him a hand in farming.

Hung-Jang's plantation was a mere patch of
ground ; but the soil being a rich loam, and there
being no lack of water for irrigation, it yielded two
crops of rice a year, besides one of cabbages and
other vegetables. He was the owner, likewise, of a
small terrace on a hill near by, where he raised a
few sweet potatoes, ground-nuts, and water-melons.
So that, what with their rice, their cabbages, their
potatoes, their nuts and their melons, helped out by
an occasional litter of pigs, a brood of ducks or
chickens, a dog now and then, and a chance rat, the
Hungs managed to live from hand to mouth, and
bring the two ends of the year together.

HE WORKS IN THE PADDY-FIELD, ETC. 25

Every member of the family — man, woman, and
child — took, part in the labors of the field. With
scarcely a holiday in all the year, save a few at its
commencement, they toiled incessantly from morn
till eve. Hung himself held his one-tailed plough,
and directed his buffalo with a long bamboo. Both
trudged through the field, half-leg deep in mud ; it
being necessary, in preparing for the rice-crop» to
saturate the soil with water. In harrowing, the
buffalo still wallowed through the mire, while Hung
rode on the cross-bar ; but in sowing the seed, he
was obliged again to wade in up to the calves of his
legs. Harvest, in that quick-growing clime, soon
following seed-time, there is no intermission of toil.
From the paddy-field the laborers go to the terrace,
and from the terrace to the paddy-field. The nar-
row roadsides are constantly clipped for materials
to dress the land with ; the bottoms of canals are
scraped for mud ; the smaller children of the family
are kept on the watch to save the droppings of ani
mals, and,

" Lean pensioners upon the traveler's tract,
Pick up their nauseous dole.''

From all this disagreeable drudgery, however,

Phuh was soon relieved. For, as the season for

driving the bullocks and buffaloes of the village to
2

26 TAI-PING-WANG.

pasture came round, it fell to his lot to go and tend
them.

Accordingly, with a gay heart, and a book under
his arm, he set off for the hill-country, lying a short
day's journey northwards. Some of these hills,
being annually burnt over, yield a thin grass very
grateful to cattle ; while others, less fertile, are over-
run with flower-bearing shrubbery. One, situated
directly over against that on which the cattle fed,
was completely covered with plantations of the
single white camellia, from the seeds of which a
pleasant vegetable oil is expressed. This shrub,
usually growing to the height of six or eight feet,
bears a profusion of blossoms, and makes a hill ap-
pear at a distance as though covered with snow.
In this instance, the soil being a clear red, the con-
trast of colors was very beautiful.

A fiivorite position occupied by the young herds-
man, was a spot on the hillside, whence he could
overlook not only the cattle, but the lower rice-
country, and was shaded by a thick clump of the
fragrant olive (oUa fro grans). There, beneath the
graceful leaves and large clusters of flowers, both
white and yellow, he sat chanting the moral lessons
of the early philosophers, and the odes of the Chinese
masters in poesy. He also began to reflect for him-
self upon w^hat he had, during so many years, been

HE WORKS IN THE PADDY-FIELD, ETC. 27

committing to memory; and the undigested mass
of reading, which had weighed somewhat oppress-
ively upon his brain, was now rapidly being con-
verted into the chyle of thought.

They were the happiest days of his boyhood.
Then it was that, taking courage, he finally resolved
to attend the next examinations for degrees ; and in
his playful moods, as if anticipating the honors of a
doctorate in letters, he amused himself with winding
about his brows garlands of the sweet-smelling olive
branches, regarded in China as emblems of literary
merit. These still, thoughtful days, wherein the
mind of the young scholar experienced the first
burst of imagination and gush of sentiment, were
to him as the cool of the evenings to Adam, when
he walked with God, or as the nights to Jacob,
when he lay dreaming at the foot of the angels' lad-
der; and when, at the end of the pasturing season,
he returned from the hills, such a change had passed
over him that his eyes were full of lustre, and his
face shone, not altogether unlike that of Moses
when he descended from the sacred mountain of
the law.

VII.

HE TAKES THE NAME OF " ELEGANT AND PERFECT," AND G0E8
TO A RHETORICIAN.

The young herdsman now resumed his labors in
the field ; but his mind being filled with ambitious
hopes of success at the approaching examinations
for literary degrees, he disdained to be called any
longer by his milk-name, Phuh, and selected that
of Siu-tshuen, which signifies Elegant and Perfect.
Every moment of leisure was given to his books.
Late at night, or long before the break of day, he
might be heard chanting, in a low tone, the sacred
lessons of the kings. His essays and verses were
written over and over again by the feeble light of a
less than farthing candle, which was made of the
white wax gathered by his own hands from the wax-
trees on the hills. Encouraging his perseverance
by the example of students who had attained the
highest literary honors in spite of their poverty, he
kept in mind how Sung-king, to prevent his head

"elegant and perfect." 29

from nodding over the midnight page, tied it up by
the queue to a beam ; how Che-jin pored over his
book by the light of a glow-worm, and Sun-kang
by that reflected from the snow ; how Chu-mai-chin
studied his lessons with back bent down by the fire-
wood he peddled around the town ; and how Kiang-
han, compelled to labor in the fields, conned the
Trimetrical Classic, tied to the iom of his buf-
falo.

He also copied, in a handsome hand, the most
approved rules for study laid down in the books,
and hung them around the walls of his chamber.
They were such as these :

*' The purpose which is supported by a deter-
mined resolution must succeed."

** Give up the whole mind to the study in hand."

" Every eighteen or twenty days review carefully
what you have committed to memory."

" As the power of an army consists more in train-
ing than in numbers, so does that of the mind de-
pend more upon its discipline than its know-
ledge."

" Do not fear being slow in learning ; only fear
standing still."

" On the eve of the public examinations avoid
reading much, for if not done before, it is then too
late."

30 TAI-PING-WANG.

" Let the duly prepared select a few choice com-
positions, and imbue his mind with the spirit of
them ; he will derive strength from this at the time
of trial."

" Let the scholar reflect if, when locked up in ex-
amination hall, with nothing but pencils, ink, and
paper, he cannot manage his theme, what his distress
will be."

Some of the relatives of Siu-tshuen, taking note
of his diligence in study, and entertaining high hopes
of his literary advancement, now proposed granting
him some small pittance, to enable him to take les-
sons in composition from a celebrated master in a
neighboring town. The plan was successfully car-
ried out — some persons contributing clothing, others'
provisions, and one a moderate sum of money ; so
that, for several months, he enjoyed the benefit of
having his essays corrected by a critic much supe-
rior to Master Ting.

In Chinese literature, style is more regarded than
sense, and is formed on models as artificial as they
are antique. To be good, it must have a perfect
rhythm. Pointed antitheses and terse phrases are
the highest beauties. A close following of the
ancient classics is most approved ; while any origin-
ality in expression, or even thought, is looked upon
as in bad taste.

"elegant and perfect." 31

It was of great moment, therefore, for the young
candidate to have the assistance of an accomplished
rhetorician in smoothing his verses, balancing his
periods, and filling his commonplace book with a
good stock of well-turned phrases.

VIII.

HE ATTENDS THE EXAMINATIONS FOR LITERARY DEGREES IN
CANTON.

At the age of sixteen, Siu-tshuen, having his
mind sufficiently stored with learning, and his style
perfected by much practice in composing both
prose and verse, set off on that road which, through
a vista of examinations and degrees, was to termi-
nate in *'the Forest of Pencils Society."

The Chinese literary degrees are four in number.
The first of them is called siu-tsai, or " flowering tal-
ent ;" the second, ku-jin, or " promoted men ;" the
third, tsin-szu, or "entered doctors;" and the fourth,
han-lin, or " Forest of Pencils." The applicant who
attains to the lowest of these honors, is rewarded by
being enrolled among the candidates for employ-
ment by the state ; and if successful afterwards in
obtaining the others, he is admitted into the impe-
rial academy, and is capable of holding the highest
offices in the gift of the emperor. The road to offi-

HE ATTENDS THE EXAMINATIONS, ETC. 33

cial station is open to all, with the exception of
menials, police-agents, and play-actors. All may
attend the preliminary examinations, to give proof
of their parts ; and it is the theory, at least, of the
government, that public honors, trusts, and emolu-
ments, are conferred as a reward of well-tested merit.
The many are called, but the few are chosen.

Before going to Canton and becoming a candidate
for the degree of siu-tsai, Siu-tshuen was obliged
first to submit to a trial of his qualifications in the
chief town of the district in which he resided.
Thither, accordingly, he went, his heart beating all
the way like gongs.

On arriving, he presented himself before the chi-
hien, who sat in robes of state in examination hall,
assisted by the hioh-ching, or " corrector of learn-
ing." At the desk of the clerk Siu-tshuen gave in
his name, his father's, his grandfather's, and his
great grandfather's, as well as that of his place of
residence, and was thereupon allowed to take his
position among the crowd of expectants, who sat
upon long benches in face of the imposing officials.
Never before the judgment-seat of the hdy inquisi-
tion did culprits so tremble at sight of thumb-
screws, as did these tyros on receiving the themes
for their trial essays from the magisterial lips of the
** corrector of learning." From morning to night

34 TAI-PING-WANG.

they toiled at their task, straining after ideas in the
sweat of their brows, and scratching their queues in
frequent perplexity.

After the essays had been finished and laid before
the board of examiners, only about a dozen out of
four or five hundred were accepted as satisfactory ;
but among the favored few was that of Siu-tshuen.
Accordingly his name was duly posted up on the
wall, and he was dubbed by the worshipful " teach-
er of commands" with the honors of hien ming^
which signifies " having a name in the village."
Thus was the first step successfully taken by the-
son of Hung-Jang towards the ** Forest of Pencils
Society."

Staggering under this load of honors, Siu-tshuen
proceeded on his way from the chief town of the
district up to the city of the department. Here he
was received with still more imposing ceremony,
and subjected to a still more rigorous examination.
The court of learning was held by the prefect him-
self, having on his right hand the chancellor, who
had come down from Canton, and on his left, the
Kiau-shau, or ** giver of instructions." In the pre-
sence of these dignitaries the themes were given
out, and the essays written, as before in the district
examination. The number of aspirants, however,
was considerably less, the ignoble crowd being

• • • '

HE ATTENDS THE EXAMINATIONS, ETC. 35

barred out by their previous failure. Flushed with
recent triumph, they all entered the lists with good
courage, though only few came off victors. Among
them again was the Elegant and Perfect. Accord-
ingly, his name was once more posted up on the
wall ; and he was clothed with the honors of the
fu ming, which signifies ** having a name in the
department.''

And now came the third great trial, that for the
degree of siu-tsai, or bachelor of arts, at the pro-
vincial capital of Canton. Should Siu-tshuen suc-
ceed in getting this, he might become a mandarin,
with a button in his cap, or even a peacock fea-
ther ; and, at least, he would be for ever exempted
from the disgraceful punishment of the bamboo, ex-
cept by order of the chancellor.

To Canton, therefore, he went. The great city
amazed the mind and distracted the eyes of the vil-
lager ; but with the crowd of candidates he found
his way to the hall of the examinations. At the
appointed time he presented his credentials, and
was subjected to the usual preliminary search, the
object of which is to prevent any writings from
being smuggled into the room in aid of the tyro put
upon his trial. His pockets were duly searched for
scraps of learning ; his finger-nails were inspected
to see if there were nothing written on them from

36 TAI-PING-WANG.

Confucius ; his queue was overhauled, lest there
should be tied up in it extracts from commonplace
or horn-books ; and even his shoes were taken off,
to discover whether passages from the trimetrical,
or some other classic, might not be secreted under
the soles of his feet, like dispatches in the boots of
a spy. However, Siu-tshuen's person passed mus-
ter, it being, in fact, as free from any marks of
learning as a tabula rasa.

When the candidates had all been thoroughly
searched, the themes were given to them, seated
pencil in hand, at long, narrow tables. Not heaven
itself could now help them, but only their own
wits. As careful a watch was set over them as
if they had been in the penitentiary. There was a
Cerberus stationed at every door, and a bailiff at
every wicket ; so that a " pony" could no more be
passed through, than a camel could go through the
eye of a needle. Even the windows were pasted
across with strips of paper, which served to exclude
the air, of which the poor fags, their very pencils
wet with perspiration, were in extremest want.

The Elegant and Perfect did his best that day,
but, alas ! whether from having too few ideas or too
many, whether from his style or his handwriting not
possessing the requisite finish, or from some other
cause impossible to be conjectured, his essay was

HE ATTENDS THE EXAMINATIONS, ETC. 37

thrown out. Certainly, it was from no fault of
master Ting-Jin, who had done his duty faithfully
by his pupil, nor of dame nature, who had equally
well done hers, but in all probability from the poor
boy not being able to grease the queues of the
board of examiners. But the son of Hung-Jang
might as soon have attempted to raise heaven and
earth as to have raised five or six hundred dollars
to purchase the degree of " flowering talent."
Therefore, there was nothing left for him but to
return, crest-fallen, to his father's house, " having a
name in the village," and ** having a name in the
department," but none in Canton.

IX

HE BECOMES SCHOOLMASTER AND DENIES THE DRAGON OP
THE EASTERN SEA.

Siu-TSHUEN returned home broken in spirits,
but not in purpose. He resolved to compete again
at the next triennial examination for the degree of
bachelor of arts; to rewrite his odes and essays
seven times seven, if necessary ; to review all the
books he had studied under the bamboo sticks of
master Ting-Jin ; to commence a course of reading
which should embrace whatever was most celebrated
in the Sz'Fu Tsiuen Shu Tsung-muh, or " Catalogue
all the books in the four libraries ;" and, though
grown slightly dim in the remoter distance, to keep
the " Forest of Pencils Society" always before his
eyes.

His relatives, also, came to the assistance of one
whose talents reflected lustre on all his tribe. They
determined to make a schoolmaster of him. A
suitable room, accordingly, was furnished by one of

HE BECOMES SCHOOLMASTER, ETC. 39

them ; books, papers, pencils, ink-stones, black slabs,
and porcelain geese, were contributed by others;
and a half dozen or more youthful queues were got
together, and placed under the pedagogical care of
the lately disappointed, but now happy Siu-tshuen.
So, in the course of a few weeks after his return
from. Canton, he saw himself set in authority on a
high stool, having tyros under his eye, and a formid-
able set of new reeds hung up within convenient
distance overhead.

This calling he followed for a number of years,^
sometimes in his native village, and sometimes in
others near by ; listening to the same perpetual
sing-song ; correcting over again, day by day, the
same recurring blunders ; always patient ; always
attentive to his duties; and said to have been a
strict disciplinarian, and to have wielded a pretty
stiff bamboo. The years slipped as pleasantly as
silently away, while Siu-tshuen lived upon the an-
nual dole of rice, and other small supplies, fur-
nished by his pupils, and devoted every moment of
leisure sedulously to his studies.

Of notable external incidents in his career, during
this period, there were none. The days dawned and
set, and, in all their course, brought no events to the
chamber where, on his magisterial stool, sat Siu-
tshuen. But in the secret chamber of his mind, on

40 TAI-PING-WANG.

the other hand, much was transpiring which was
destined not only to give a tone to his own intel-
lectual and moral character, but also to modify the
thought and faith of a large portion of the human
family. For at this time it was that he first began
to entertain doubts respecting the worship of idols,
so much practiced by his countrymen.

His skepticism is said to have been first awak-
ened in this wise : In the year eighteen hundred
and thirty-two, there was a great drought in several
of the provinces, which gave occasion to both magis-
trates and people to go upon their knees before the
gods for rain. The Emperor, Tau-kwang, " knock-
ing head" before imperial heaven, or Hwang Tien,
prayed for rain by public proclamation, promising
that if it were in consequence of his own failure
well to administer the government, or through the
fault of his subordinate ofl&cers, that the earth was
so afflicted with thirst, he would, for the future,
" apply the plumb-line of rectitude more carefully
to his actions ;" and, at the same time declaring
that, ** as he was responsible for keeping the world
in order, he felt inexpressibly grieved, alarmed, and
frightened, at the long withholding of the vapors,
and could not possibly be put off any longer." But
no rain followed.

The prefect of Canton, also, his heart " scorched

HE BECOMES SCHOOLMASTER, ETC. 41

with grief," sent out a summons to all "rain-
makers," far and near, inviting them to force the
Dragon of the Eastern Sea to send showers upon
the earth, and promising both money and honorary-
tablets to any " priest or such like," who, by any
craft or art, would prevail with his snakeship to
grant the much-needed relief. Still, it did not
rain.

Then, the governor of the province, wearied with
going, day after day, in his heavy robes of ceremony,
under a tropical sun, to the temple, became angry
with the rain-god, who, sitting in the cool of his
niche in the wall, paid no sort of attention to the
supplications offered with so much loss of perspira-
tion ; and causing a rope to be put around his worth-
less neck, had him dragged out into the heat and
dust of the street, and there thoroughly sunned,
while his excellency sat cooling himself in the
shade. Nevertheless, it did not rain.

Meanwhile, the people seconded the efforts of the
magistrates. The crowd filled the temples ; fasts
were kept ; the southern gates of the cities were shut,
to keep out the hot winds and induce moisture ; all
prisoners, not in confinement for capital offenses,
were let loose, to produce the same result ; and final-
ly, when all these methods failed, the impotent
authorities were lampooned by the wits ; and the

42 TAl-PIXG-WANG.

Buddhist priests, who, bareheaded in the sun, prac-
ticed, with wand and cymbal, their incantations for
producing showers, were mocked at by the people.
But the dragon still sent no rain.

Then, suddenly, it flashed across the mind of Siu-
tshuen, as he lay one night on his mat, that rain did
not come from the dragon at all, but from the
clouds. If the dragon had it under his control, why
should he not send it in answer to so much praying?
On recalling to mind several very severe droughts,
followed by famines, which had occurred within his
recollection, he asked himself why, if the supplica-
tions and offerings made to the idol were of any
avail, they had not produced it before the crops had
been nearly or quite ruined ? The only way, it oc-
curred to him, whereby it could be demonstrated
that rain followed prayer to the dragon, as effect its
cause, would be by keeping a record of a large num-
ber of cases, and showing, from actual observation,
that the two events were universally connected to-
gether. But so far as his own observation had gone,
no such natural order of sequences had been found
to exist. Accordingly, before rising from his mat,
he came fully to the conclusion that the dragon, and
all idols like him, were what, among the occidental
nations, is called " humbug ;" and the next day he
wrote in his commonplace book an argument to

HE BECOMES SCHOOLMASTER, ETC. 43

show that the rain did not come from any dragon or
saurian reptile, but out of the Heavens. This, at a
later period, was reproduced in his Imperial Decla-
ration, wherein it was proved that rain was caused
by clouds ; first, from the testimony of the senses ;
secondly, on the authority of Mencius ; and thirdly,
by the Ode of the Chow dynasty.

Thus was the great folly of idolatry made plain to
the mind of Siu-tshuen; and when, a fortnight after-
wards, on the descent of the long delayed showers,
the people assembled in front of the village to show
their gratitude to the gods by burning off the tail
of a live sow, while the animal was held confined in
a basket, he felt indignant enough at the silly and
cruel superstition to have kicked every idol there
was in the village into the duck-pond.* Only the
fear of the people withheld him.

• Compare Williams' " Middle Kingdom," vol. ii., p. 241.

X.

HE BUYS A ^NHFE.

"There are three things to be desired in this
world," say the Chinese, " male progeny, official
employment, and long life." Siu-tshuen having now
arrived at an age when he began to comprehend the
desirableness of these blessings, went one day to his
father, and expressed to him his wish to take a wife.
But Ilung-Jang, who had an eye to the expense
involved in such a proceeding, would have preferred
his deferring this step for another year or more. He,
therefore, suggested to his son that he was yet too
young to think of taking upon himself the marital
responsibilities ; but the latter, though entertaining
the most profound respect for his father's opinions,
could not be brought to accept this view of the sub-
ject.

To change the argument, then, Hung-Jang threw
out some of those disparaging views of the sex which
prevail in China ; and observed to Siu-tshuen that

HE BUYS A WIFE. 45

young men at his time of life generally entertained
very exaggerated notions of the value of wives ; for
it was very little after all that they were capable of
doing, or comprehending. But the young Hung,
again making a low bow, begged leave respectfully
to differ from his father, and, by permission, recited
an extract from a distinguished writer, which, as
it happened, he had just committed to memory.
" Monkeys," says Luchau, " may be taught to play
antics ; dogs to tread a mill ; cats to run round a
cylinder; and parrots to recite verses. Since, then,
it is manifest that some birds and beasts may be
taught to understand human affairs, how much more
so may young wives, who after all are human
beings ?"

So Hung-Jang, finding the heart of his son set
upon immediately dividing his felicity with another,
promised to take the subject into consideration, and
speak with his wife about it. The father was, in
fact, scarcely less anxious for the son to marry than
he himself could be ; he had even betrothed him from
infancy to a neighbor's daughter, whose death the
year preceding had " spilled the tea ;" and it was
only from the narrowness of his means that he had
not before provided for this, his favorite son's settle-
ment. Siu-tshuen himself, however, had laid by a
small sum of money out of his salary as a teacher ;

46 TAI-PING-WANG.

and the economical objection being thereby in a
measure obviated, it was resolved to make up a
match without delay.

There was no difficulty in finding a damsel, once
the money raised to pay for her. On the recom-
mendation of his wife, Hung-Jang made selection of
the daughter of a respectable rice-planter who lived
in a neighboring village, and whose pecuniary
means were about the same as his own.

This point having being settled, a mei-jin, or go-
between, was called in, who, being a widow some-
what advanced in life, knew perfectly well the
character and business .of every person in the
villages near by, and was reputed to be the most
skillful match-maker in the whole district of Hwa-
hien. This person was sent by Hung-Jang and his
eldest son to the father and elder brother of the
young woman, to ask her name and the hour of her
birth, in order to cast a horoscope, preparatory to
making proposals of marriage.

The stars having been found to be favorable to
the union, the go-between was further directed to
open negotiations for the hand of the young woman,
and was authorized to bid as high as twenty dollars
for it — the usual price in Ilvva-hien.

These terms were accepted without much hag-
gling. The assent of the party of the second part

HE BUYS A WIFE. 47

was^duly signified in writing, and some small pre-
sents were exchanged between the families. Those
sent by Hung-Jang consisted of a ham, a small
quantity of vermicelli, fruits, and dried melon seeds,
the reception of which was honored by a salute of
fire-crackers.

When the day arrived, which had been fixed upon
by the go-between for the performance of the mar-
riage ceremony on account of its being a lucky one,
the relatives of Hung-Jang assembled at his house
before mid-day, and moved thence in procession to
the residence of the father of the bride, in order to
fetch her to her new home. The musicians in attend-
ance were the same blower of the flute and beater
of the gong who had led the march to the grave of
Hung-Jang's first wife. They now played, how^
ever, a merry quick-step, while the procession
was gay with banners, umbrellas, lanterns, and
flambeaux.

On the arrival of the procession at the residence
of the bride, she came forth, enveloped in a broad
mantle, and an umbrella hat so large as to rest on
her shoulders. A wha-hien, or red sedan-chair, being
in attendance, she took her seat in it, and was there-
upon carefully locked in by a servant, who was in-
structed to deliver the key into the hands of the
bridegroom. This is a precaution always taken in

48 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

China to prevent any exchange of persons on the
way, whereby a gentleman might be defrauded of
the lady he had bargained for, and made to espouse
another not worth half the money.

A small roasted pig having been placed by the
roadside to divert the attention of hungry and evil-
disposed hobgoblins, the procession passed to and
fro in safety. On its return, Siu-tshuen, attired in
a new dress of blue cotton, received his bride at the
door, and conducted her directly to his chamber.
Then, the mantle and umbrella-hat being removed,
he for the first time beheld the woman destined to
be his wife.

Fortunately, her appearance was satisfactory.
He first examined her face, and found it not desti-
tute of beauty. He then took the measure of her
foot, and made it not over five and a quarter inches.
The person was suiliciently thin to gratify his taste ;
her hair was neatly arranged on the top of her head,
with natural flowers in it ; and her tunic and petti-
coat were well made of good cloth. In short, she
was a bargain ; and he felt no disposition to show
her back to her sedan, and send her home, with the
loss of the twenty dollars which had been paid for
her.

This inspection of his prize finished, Siu-tshuen
gave way to his female relations, who, on being ad-

HE BUYS A WIFE. 49

mitted into the chamber, subjected the new mem-
ber of the family to a scrutiny still more rigid.
They did not find her at all to their mind. Her nose
was too high, her cheek-bones too low, and her eyes
not sufficiently oblique; her face was too much
rouged, and her eye-brows not made black enough ;
her foot would do, but her hair had too many white
jasmines in it ; and the hang of her petticoat was
certainly not what it should be. In fact, the poor
thing was quite pulled to pieces. But having the
good sense to receive all this captious criticism with
good temper, she afterwards was thought better of ;
and the feeling finally prevailed among the company
that if the bridegroom was satisfied, they might as
well be 80 themselves.

The nuptial ceremonies were terminated, not by
the benediction of a priest, that not being the cus-
tom of the country, but by a great feast, and plenty
of tea and whisky. Each guest, on receiving his
invitation, had sent in return a sum of money equiva-
lent to the cost of the eatables he might be expect-
ed to consume on the occasion, being, on an average,
about ten cents. Accordingly, a bountiful table
was spread with fish, poultry^, vegetables, fruits, and
in the midst, the baked pig, brought in from the
roadside after it had sufficiently appeased the appe-
tite of the demons.

50 TAI-PING-WANG.

The supply was not greater than the demand ; for
Hung-Jang's house was packed as full of guests as
a drum with figs ; and every one of them was dis-
posed to get his money's worth. There were, in-
deed, no such costly delicacies as birds' nests, sea-
slugs, or bear's paws ; as, on the other hand, there
were no such vulgar ones as mice, snakes, owls, or
small insects. At least, the only exception was a
dish of cockroaches, done in castor oil. But besides
the eatables, there was a good supply of sam-shu,
rice-wine, and tea, of fair quality, though not equal
to ." old man's eyebrow." The guests drank the
bride's health in cups which, when inverted, left
not so much as a bead on the rim, and plied the
bridegroom, or *' new man," with liquor pretty
hard up aginst the limits of sobriety.

So the marriage-day closed with pleasant mirth.
The ancestral tablets of the house were duly wor-
shiped ; prostrations were gone through with by
the young couple before the parents ; and the bride
made the usual obeisance to a goose, as an emblem
of conjugal fidelity. A ring was presented to her
by her female relatives ; while the male gave a lan-
tern to her husband. It then remained only that
Hung-Jang should set upon his son's head the cap
of manhood, and bestow on him an additional name
to mark his connection with the family. This was

HE BUYS A WIFE. 51

done with the usual formalities ; and he, who had
begun life with the monosyllabic appellation of
Phuh, was thenceforth to be known as Hung-Kung-
Phuh-Siu-tshuen, having as many titles as a pacha
has tails.

XI.

HE BECOMES A CONFTCIAN PHILOSOPHER.

A SHORT time after the termination of his honey-
moon, Siu-tshuen opened a school in a village about
ten miles from home; but his wife remained to
assist in the labors of the family.

This village is situated on the shore of a small
lake, and is called Water- Lily, from the profusion
of lotus plants which float on its waters. Through
the summer and autumn, the margin is covered with
the broad, green leaves, and showy flowers, with
tints white, red, and yellow, of this nclumhium
speciosum ; while the hills, which rise abruptly from
the shore opposite that on which stands the village,
are draped with the lilac of the daphne, and the purple
of the hiidlca Undleyana : so that, when to this floral
display is added the gaudy and odoriferous beauty
of the jasmines, the sweet-briers, the azalias, the
magnolias, the oranges, and pomegranates, which fill
all the roadside hedges, it may be said of Water-

HE BECOMES A CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHER. 53

Lily that it well deserves its place in the " central
land of flowers."

Indeed, its lake is a picture in miniature of that
of Sy-hoo, in the province of Che-keang, so famed in
Chinese poetry and fiction, where, within the circum-
ference of six miles of shore, the pleasure-barges vie
with the lotus-blossoms, both in gaudiness and in
numbers ; where the limpid, glassy waters reflect
the fair forms of the belles of Suchau, standing
as graceful at the prow as the water-lilies on their
stems ; and where, through all the genial season of
the year, life is a mere chase after pleasure, which
is pursued with sails or oars.

But the sweetly-scented shores of the lake of
Water-Lily allured Siu-tshuen to meditation, not to
pleasure. When not on a visit to his family, he
might often be seen there, refreshing himself after
the labors of the day, and having the air of a person
lost in his own thoughts. He reflected much at
this period on themes connected with religion and
government. Indeed, ever since the time when
doubts first sprang up in his mind respecting that
article in the popular creed which attributes the
power of sending rain to the Dragon of the Eastern
Sea, his leisure had been principally occupied with
examining the different religious and philosophical
systems prevalent among his countrymen. By help

54 TAI-PING-WANG.

of that light which lighteth every man that Com-
eth into the world, though dimmer even than the
tapers of the tallow-tree, he read daily in the
obscure pages of natural religion, and endeavored
to spell out, as best he could, the hidden wisdom
of God.

The Chinese are characterized by a remarkable
indifference to religious doctrines. The various
sects — Buddhists, Rationalists, Mahometans, and
Jews — enjoy perfect toleration, only because there
is no strong attachment among the people to
any one of them. "Sing-song — all the same
pigeon," is an adage currently applied to the dif-
ferent religious doctrines ; and even the Emperor
Tau-kwang once issued a proclamation, reviewing
their several pretensions, and declaring them all
to be false.

Still, the vulgar live under the dominion of super-
stitions of one sort or another, and worship a great
number of idols, it matters little by what name
called. The adoration of the higher divinities,
indeed, such as the visible heavens, the earth, the
great temple of ancestors, the gods of land and of
grain, being performed by the emperor and chief
officers of state, as a court ceremony and pageant, the
same is prohibited to the common people, under pain
of strangulation or banishment. But there is a

HE BECOMES A CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHER. 55

legion of inferior gods and genii left them. These
exercise authority over every locality, and super-
vision over every event of life ; and, in honor of
them, all houses have two altars, one in the hall,
and one in a niche in the external wall, where a
blind faith daily lights its candles and incense-
sticks. The consumption of gilt paper, burned at
the shrines, is enormous, and creates an active trade
in the article throughout the empire. Sacrifices,
likewise, of baked meats, and other kinds of food, are
offered to all sorts of hungry demons, sprites, and
ghosts. Incantations are commonly practiced ; amu-
lets are worn ; lucky and unlucky days are believed
in ; and a multitude of ceremonies are attended upon
in the temples, where the priests bow their shaven
heads to Buddh, and sound their bells and gongs to
call the drowsy god's attention.

The Buddhist is the most influential of the dif-
ferent sects. Its priests absolve from sin for a
consideration, and teach their votaries to keep a
regular score with heaven. They, likewise, gain
influence by inculcating the doctrine of a future
state of rewards and punishments, which is not in-
sisted upon by the Confucian literati. Their hell con-
sists of eight stories, in which the souls which have
been condemned by the ten kings of darkness and
judges of the world, are pounded in a mortar, sawn

6b TAI-PING-WANG.

asunder, tied to red-hot pillars of brass, have their
tongues cut out, and are pitched headlong upon
hills of knife-blades.

The heaven of the good, on the other hand, is a
paradise in the west. " Therein the bodies of the
saints, reproduced from the lotus, are pure and
fragrant, their countenances fair and well-formed,
their hearts full of wisdom, and without vexation.
They dress not, and yet are not cold ; they dress,
and yet are not made hot. They eat not, and yet
are not hungry ; they eat, and yet are not satiated.
They are without pain, irritation, and sickness, and
they become not old. They behold the lotus-
flowers and gum-trees delightfully waving, like the
motion of a vast sheet of embroidered silk. On
looking upward, they see the firmament full of to-lo
flowers, falling in beautiful confusion like rain.
The felicity of that kingdom may justly be called
superlative, and the age of its inhabitants is without
measure. This is the place called the paradise of
the west."

The other sect, most in favor with the common peo-
ple, is that of the Rationalists, founded by Lautsz'.
These derive the origin of all things from the logos,
or reason, wherein from eternity they lay infolded,
as in a germ. They teach that virtue is best pro-
moted, not by the overcoming of temptation, but by

HE BECOMES A CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHER. 57

its avoidance ; not by the restraint of passion, but by-
its annihilation ; not by an active discharge of the
duties of life, but by habits of abstraction from
worldly affairs ; in short, to use their own phrase, " by
stifling their breath, and eating their spirits." But
their hold of the popular mind is gained chiefly by
the magic arts, whereby they pretend to hold
intercourse with, and exercise a control over, the
demons of the invisible world. Formerly, they
sought much for the philosopher's stone, and the
elixir of life, and they still keep up a brisk trade in
amulets, go barefooted over ignited charcoal, and
produce demoniacal possession, which they call
" dancing the god."

Born and brought up in the midst of all this
idolatry and superstition, Siu-tshuen, on arriving at
the age of understanding, found his mind in the pos-
session of a host of demons. But he manfully
undertook to expel them. The Dragon of the
Eastern Sea was successfully wrestled with, and
driven out with all his brood. Welcoming the
doubts which, from time to time, arose in his mind,
as angels of light coming to his rescue, he persevered
in battling with the powers of darkness which over-
shadowed his reason, until the cloud of them was
almost entirely driven out of his mental firmament.

The light which then shone in it was not, indeed,
3*

58 TAI-PING-WANG.

the sun of Christianity, but the paler orb of natural
religion ; or rather, the star of Confucius.

For, now, after years of study, he came to com-
prehend, and to accept the doctrines of this philo-
sopher, and of his disciples. With them, he
believed in a trinity of first principles, the Z/, the
chih, and the TcL The ki is primary matter, or the
substratum of material qualities ; the cJdh is the
sensible qualities of matter; and the li is the power
of organization. This latter, though inseparable
from matter, is immaterial. It is also impersonal.
It is universally diffused. A principle of fitness, it
acts according to its own predetermined nature,
and, without freedom of choice, remunerates both
the good and evil in human actions. The three
principles exist in combination from eternity, al-
thougli, logically considered, the li is antecedent
to the others -, and in this organized unity they will
exist forever.

" Respect the gods, but keep theqi at a distance,"
said Confucius ; and the foregoing theory realizes
the precept. It is the pantheism of the eastern
world, which, in western nations, and modern times,
has been reproduced more especially by the Ger-
mans. It is a doctrine of necessity, older than
Spinoza or Heraclitus, and which prevails through-
out China, and all the Orient. Still, it is there

HE BECOMES A CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHER. 59

generally held in the sense of Confucius, who also
taught that fate is of our own making, and happi-
ness the result of our own conduct. *' The very-
moment I desire to be virtuous," says this philo-
sopher, " the attainment is made."

The question of the immortality of the soul has
been scarcely entertained by the Confucians. " We
know not life," say they; " how, then, can we com-
prehend death ?" They object to the Rationalists,
or followers of Lautsz*, that their doctrine of a west-
ern paradise for souls separated from the body, un-
fits men for the business and duties of this life by
fixing their thoughts on another. " Better," says
Confucius, " is it to concentrate happiness in the pre-
sent moment, than to defer it to a futurity we know
not of. All conduct has its reward in this world,
either in the person of the individual, or in his pos-
terity, to the third and fourth generation."

As the corner-stone of his system of morals, Con-
fucius laid down the doctrine of the golden mean,
the tchong yong. All the original propensities of
our nature are good, and evil grows only out of
their indulgence to excess. The animal passions
are to be gratified, but always in subordination to
the higher instincts of reason. Perfection of cha-
racter results from a fine balance of our natural
powers. He who governs himself, is alone capable

60 TAI-PING-WANG.

of governing others, and is the equal of heaven.
The wise man perfects his own nature ; and he who
is truly benevolent, loves first those who are near,
and then those who are afar off.

As in morals, so in politics, the great Confucian
principle is : "Avoid extremes." The state is to be
governed by the same rules as the individual. All
interests are to be balanced. The good of a part
of the nation is bound up in, and is to be kept
subordinate to, the good of the whole. The system
of the family is the model of that of the state; and,
in both, mutual forbearance is to be exercised by all
the members, and a perfect subordination maintained
of the younger to the elder— of the inferior to the
superior. Only in the reverence of parents and of
ancestors, is there safety for either men or nations.

Such, in few words, are the doctrines of the Con-
fucians, who are not so much a religious sect as a
political order. They consist mainly of the literati
and magistrates of the empire ; have no priests ;
and take little part in any kind of public worship,
excepting that of ancestors and the sages, and cer-
tain religious ceremonies of state.

And such were the views of religion and govern-
ment which were now gradually displacing in the
mind of Siu-tshuen the popular superstitions in
which he had been educated.

XII.

HE CONSULTS A FORTUlfE-TELLEB, AND MEETS WITH THE
EVANGELIST, LIANO AFAH.

He that seeketh, findeth. So, Siu-tshuen, after
several years of diligent searching after God in the
writings of the Confucian philosophers, if haply he
might find him, was destined at length to receive
a portion of his written Word at the hands of a
Christian tract-distributor.

In the year eigtheen hundred and thirty-three,
leaving his school for a time, he went up to Canton
to make another effort to diminish the distance
which lay between him and the " Forest of Pencils
Society." In this he was again unsuccessful ; but in
another way he was abundantly rewarded for his
good endeavors.

Before attending the examination, it happened to
him, as he was strolling through the streets, to
meet with a fOrtune-teller. Persons of this calling

62 TAI-PING-WANG.

abound in all the great thoroughfares of the large
towns, and are much patronized by those who are
over-anxious to know the future. Siu-tshuen, being
then in this state of mind — for he was intensely
interested in knowing the issue of this second trial
for a degree — could not resist the impulse to take
counsel of the soothsayer. Confucius himself had
said that the truly sincere are equal to the gods,
and foreknow both good and evil. This young dis-
ciple, accordingly, who had not yet entirely shaken
off the hold of the superstition in which he was
born and begotten,. becanie very naturally the dupe
of an imagination so strongly excited as to becloud
his reason.

So he approached the table where, in a high-
backed chair, sat the teller of fortunes. Paying the
usual fee, he stated his desire to be to know whether
he should obtain the degree of ** Flowering talent,"
and be finally admitted into the illustrious " Forest
of Pencils Society."

Thereupon the seer, putting on a solemn look,
asked him his name. This was written down in
full — Hung-Kung-Phuh-Siu-tshuen. Then, taking
up a small bundle of bamboo slips, inscribed with
certain characters, the fortune-teller made selection
of one of them, and proceeded carefully to write
the radical and primitive parts of its character upon

HE CONSULTS A FORTUNE-TELLER, ETC. 63

the same tablet on which he had before written Siu-
tshuen's name. To this analysis of the character
was added the hour, day, month, and year ; the five
planets ; the different colors ; the human viscera ;
and whatever else could well be thought of suffi-
ciently foreign to the purpose.

The cabalistic catalogue completed, the fortune-
teller fell to studying it as intently as ever did sybil
jier leaves. At length, at what seemed to Siu-
tshuen the end of full quarter of an hour, the worthy
man's brows began to lift, and clear up. Light
gradually broke in upon his inquiring mind. He
saw the future as in a glass; and, assuming the look
of a man who had " rapped" up a spirit out of pur-
gatory, and had a ghost between his legs under a
pine-board table, he eagerly seized his pencil,
and wrote the following sentence : — ** You will suc-
ceed ; you will be ill ; my respects to your virtuous
father."

This finished and handed to Siu-tshuen, the for-
tune-teller fell at once out of his seventh heaven,
counted over again the cash which had been de-
posited on his table, and looked around for a new
customer with eyes in which shone not the faintest
beam of futurity.

As for Siu-tshuen, he went on his way lighter
in pocket, but lighter still in heart. To the thres-

64 TAI-PING-WANG.

hold of the " Forest of Pencils Society'* seemed to
him but a step.

So elated, in fact, was he, that the next day he
returned to satisfy his curiosity with regard to an-
other matter. His wife being with child, he wished
to know whether she was to bear him a son, or a
daughter. But the soothsayer was nowhere to be
seen ; and, in his stead. Divine Providence sent a
man who proved to Siu-tshuen to be " more than a
prophet," and gave him information far more valu-
able than that he was seeking for.

This was Liang Afah, a native Evangelist, em-
ployed by the London Bible Society to distribute
religious books among the young men who came up
to Canton to attend the examinations, and who was
afterwards remembered by Siu-tshuen as a venerable
man, *' with large sleeves and a long beard." From
his pious hands the young scholar received, without
money and without price, a series of tracts on
religious subjects, including extracts from the Scrip-
tures, entitled Keuen she leang ycfi, or *' Good words
for exhorting the age."

These he took home with him ; read them ; but,
not fully comprehending the new ideas, illustrated
as they were by many theological terms and phrases
hard to be understood, he laid them up on his
shelf. There they remained for about ten years

HE CONSULTS A FORTUNE-TELLER, ETC. 65

undisturbed ; but at the end of that time, some of
the seeds,^ which had fallen upon a prepared soil,
sprang up, and bore fruit for the healing of the
nation. ^

XIII.

HE FALLS ILL, AND IS TREATED BY DOCTORS KI-HI, VANQ-
80U, AND TCHONG-KING-HO.

During the next three years, Siu-tshuen floated
quietly down the tide of time, with scarcely wind
enough astern to fill his main-sail. He passed his days
in his school-room, now reopened in his native village,
while his wife spent hers in either domestic labors
or field-work. The one conceived, from time to time,
a new idea, and the other endeavored to bring forth
male oflispring. In not one instance, however, did
she succeed — the second birth, like the first, proving
to be that of a daughter, and constituting about
the only event which, during these years, occurred
to mar the felicity of Siu-tshuen.

At length, at the end of this period, one of the
two occurrences predicted by the Canton for-
tune-teller came to pass. Siu-tshuen fell ill. His
naturally-strong^onstitution had, for several months
preceding, been overtasked — partly by the labors of

HE FALLS ILL, ETC. 67

his school, but more by his preparations for another
examination for the degree of siu-tsai ; and when he
returned again from Canton as unsuccessful as be-
fore, he reached his father's house only to faint on
its threshold. Borne to his mat, he lay there ex-
hausted through the remainder of the day, and at
night was seized with a violent fever.

Hung-Jang was sore distressed at this invasion of
disease, which, since the death of his wife, had not
entered the circle of his family ; and the more so,
that the victim selected was his favorite son, whose
head he fondly hoped one day to see surmounted
with the button of a mandarin. He, therefore, sum-
moned the members of the family together, and
proposed to them to call in a physician. This was
agreed to — all cheerfully consenting that the ex-
pense should be defrayed from the common funds. J

Sortilege being resorted to in order to determine
which one of the two principal physicians of the
village should be sent for, the lot fell on doctor Ki- ^
hi. This practitioner was to be found at one of the
corners of the principal street, beneath a flag flut-
tering fromja pole ; while over against him sat his
rival, under an awning decked out with streamers ;
and both equally intent on offering to the passers-
by their respective nostrums.

Doctor Ki-hi obeyed the summons, and straight-

68 TAI-PINa-WANG.

way made his appearance, with drugs and simples,
in the house of Hung-Jang. A consultation was
then held between the medical man and the family
as to the amount of the former's fees, which, after a
good many words on both sides, was finally agreed
upon, with the proviso, however, of "no cure no
pay." This important preliminary matter having
been settled to mutual satisfaction, the doctor pro-
ceeded to make a thorough examination of the
patient's symptoms.

As the diagnosis of the Chinese faculty is made
chiefly by feeling the pulse, to the pulse doctor Ki-
hi went at once. He felt the pulses in both arms,
in each of which there are three, called the inch,
the bar, and the cubit. He felt the pulses of the
heart and of the liver, in the left arm ; and those of
the stomach and of the lungs in the right. But,
finally, he hung by the pulse of the heart, in the
left wrist. There was found to be the principal
irregularity, and the beating was pronounced to be
that one of the twenty-four different varieties, which
is called cAe, or full.

It was a case of fever. The cause of it was either
some disagreement of the yang and the jifh the male
and female principles in the system, or the presence
of peccant humors, or the agency of evil spirits.
The patient, accordingly, must drink a kettle of

HE PALLS ILL, ETC. 69

simples ; must take his water boiled ; must refrain
from eating; and must keep to his mat. If all
these directions were followed, the cure would be
effected in seven days.

Siu-tshuen drank the kettle of simples, as direct-
ed, and two days after was much worse, with occa-
sional attacks of delirium. The doctor being again
called declared blood-letting to be indicated. This
he proposed to effect by means of acupuncture,
applied to the calves of the patient's legs, in order
to check the upward tendency of the blood, and
determine it to the nether parts of the system.

Accordingly, Siu-tshuen, though getting to be
rather unmanageable, was prevailed upon to submit
his legs to the operation. He consented so far as to
place himself on his hands and knees, in a posture
sufficiently favorable ; but the moment he felt the
instrument prick his skin, he suddenly reared up
with both feet, and hitting the doctor in the abdo-
men, sent him heels-over-head through the door
into the hall.

Thereupon, the operation was deferred until the
patient should become more free from delirium.
But the next day, instead of being able to carry his
purpose into execution, the doctor, on opening the
door of Siu-tshuen's chamber, found him standing
on his head ! This was alarming. Doctor Ki-hi

70 TAI-PING-WANG.

began to have fears not only for his patient, but for
himself; for, should the disease suddenly come to a
fatal issue, he might be sued for mal-practice, and,
by the laws of the land, lose his money, if not his
head.

But he now resolved to try a master-stroke in
the practice of the art, let the consequences be
what they might. He was of opinion, judging from
the symptoms in the case, that the patient, in
standing on his head, had dislocated his brain, and
that it was absolutely necessary to set it. He, there-
fore, bound his head with a band, drawn tightly by
two assistants, who held on to the ends, while he
struck a violent blow on the intermediate portion
with a bamboo. Strange to say, the operation of
jarring the brain had a good effect ; and the doctor,
on taking his leave, had the satisfaction of seeing
his patient sitting up, and in his right mind.*

His satisfaction, however, was short-lived; for,
as he entered the house the next day, Siu-tshuen,
the moment he heard his step in the hall, came
leaping out of his room on all fours, his face red as
vermilion, his queue on end, and his mouth froth-
ing. Thereupon, the doctor did what he came very
near doing the morning before : he took to his heels.

• Compare a similar case in Williams' " Middle Kingdom," vol. ii.,
p. 184.

HE FALLS ILL, ETC. 71

Nor did he stop to haul down his flag from the pole,
but hastily gathering together his simples and pill-
boxes, made the best of his way to a neighboring
village, where he lay hid until he was informed of his
patient's recovery.

It now became necessary to call in the services
of doctor Vang-sou, who sat beneath the awning
decorated with streamers. Doctor Vang-sou came,
as requested ; and, on seeing Siu-tshuen, agreed to
cure him in seven days, or forfeit of his fees the
moiety.

Like doctor Ki-hi, he began with feeling his
patient's pulses with very great care and delibera-
tion ; but while doing so, he kept up a running
conversation with the wife of Hung-Jang respecting
the previous course of the disease, so that by the
time he had gone the rounds of the pulses, he had
put himself in complete possession of the sayings
and doings of his predecessor.

He was then ready for action. The pulse exhibit-
ing the greatest irregularity was declared to be that
of the heart ; but it was not che, or full. By no
means. It was hong — overflowing; and the true
method of cure was not to let blood, which would
be like attempting to stop the boiling of a pot by
diminishing the liquor instead of reducing the fire.
The remedy indicated was an electuary. He, there-

72 TAI-PIN(J-WANG.

fore, proceeded to compound an effectual one, con-
sisting of about sixty different drugs and simples,
with strong proportions of ginseng and rhubarb,
and ordered them to be all well fried in fat. Of this
the patient was to take a mouthful every thirty
minutes. So doctor Vang-sou, after having com-
miserated Siu-tshuen on account of the damage done
to the calves of his legs, retired, saying that his
electuary would produce a certain, speedy, and
complete cure — though adding, as is the custom of
the Chinese faculty, the saving qualification, **if
anything on earth can do it.*

Siu-tshuen mended a little, under the influence of
the electuary, but, after a day or two, fell off again.
The sauce-pan of doctor Vang-sou had no more vir-
tue in it than the kettle of doctor Ki-hi. In fact,
at the end of his seven days, the former was obliged
to acknowledge that his patient was apparently as
far from being cured as at the beginning ; and so,
saying there was a medicine for disease, but none for
fate, he pocketed his half-fee, and gave over poor
Siu-tshuen to the gods.

Left, now, to nature, and to boiled cold water, the
sick man improved rapidly. But before the cure
was perfected he met with a relapse, and became
worse than ever. He then raved by the hour to-
gether, and had frequently to be held down by main

HE FALLS ILL, ETC. 73

force. This almost broke the heart of his father,
who knew not what to do. To pull the neck of the
patient until black and blue, in order to force out the
evil spirit within, was the treatment urged by the
wife of Hung-Jang ; but Siu-tshuen was even less
disposed to submit to this operation than he had
been to that of acupuncture. The relatives and
neighbors coming in, counseled, some one thing, and
some another ; this one recommending bears' paws,
and the other, tigers' bones, as remedies ; neighbor so-
and-so talking of the cures which had been wrought
by the bezoar of cows, and the horns of rhinoceroses ;
while certain aged beldams told each other stories
about still greater wonders done by the scales of
pangolins, and the petrifactions of crabs and ortho-
ceras.

But little did all this talk of costly and impossible
remedies help the sufferer. For days he lay on his
mat, apparently nigh unto death ; and but for having
Heaven and a good constitution on his side, he would
certainly have reached that bourne whither doctor
Vang-sou had very deliberately consigned him.

At length, however, a bright thought occurred to
his wife. She remembered to have several times
heard her husband speak of doctor Tchong-king-ho,
of Water-Lily, as a friend of his, with whom he was
in the habit of disputing respecting the doctrines of

74 TAI-PING-WANG.

Confucius and Chu-hd. Now, this doctor Tchong-
king-ho had made a reputation and a small fortune
by curing a mandarin of distinction, who, in passing
through the country, had fallen ill at Water-Lily. If
he, therefore, could be induced to pay a visit to his
sick friend, all would be well. The proposition was
talked over in the family, approved of, and, without
loss of time, a sedan-chair was dispatched to Water-
Lily for doctor Tchong-king-ho.
^ Doctor Tchong-king-ho came back in the sedan
chair. He was a portly, grave man, who entered
the house of Hung-Jang with many bows of cere-
mony, supporting his steps with a tall bamboo staff,
and followed by a servant having a chest of drawers to
his back. This piece of furniture was divided into
forty small compartments, and contained the doc-
tor's medicines. Siu-tshuen seemed to revive the
moment it was set down upon the floor.
Like his two predecessors, the Water-Lily doctor be-
gan with the pulses. They were all found to be more
or less irregular, and especially that of the heart.
But this was neither che, nor hongy but hoa, slippery,
and tsoUf embarrassed, "like a frog entangled in
weeds, and unable to get backwards or forwards."
Moreover, it was observed that the complexion of
the patient and his pulse did not quadrate. This
was his worst symptom.

HE FALLS ILL, ETC. 75

Finally, after having completed the examination
of the pulses and countenance of the patient,
doctor Tchong-king-ho folded his hands on his
breast, and said, "The disease is a fever. It is
caused by a disturbance of the natural equilibrium
between the hot and the moist elements in the
system. Of the three tsiao, or fire-places, situa-
ted, one in the heart, one in the sternum, and one
in the navel, the superior one has an excess of fuel
in it. This dries up the natural moisture of the
body, and so accelerates the blood and animal spirits,
which follow in its train, that they make about
ninety rounds in twenty-four hours ; whereas, they
should make but fifty, as is laid down in the treatise
on the pulse, written, under the Tsin dynasty, by
Ouang-tchou-hoa. The canal, besides, which con-
veys the moisture from the heart to the upper extre-
mities, and which is called chau chun yn king, is
stopped up. A cure, accordingly, can be accom-
plished only by freeing this canal, in the first place,
and then letting moisture in upon the superior fire-
place. My pills will do the one, and a decoction
made from the forty simples will do the other."

After having delivered himself of these learned
opinions, collected from the forty volumes of the
" Golden Mirror of Medical Practice," doctor
Tchong-king-ho proceeded gravely to draw out his

76 TAI-PIXG-WAXG.

pill-boxes. From one of these he took six small,
silver-coated globules, represented by him to be the
very blossom and fragrance of the pharmacopoeia,
and to have been prepared by a celebrated practi-
tioner at Canton, who was patronized by both the
prefect and the governor of the province. These
were a sovereign remedy in all hot diseases, con-
tracted in the hour of Mars, as was the case with that
of the patient ; and would infallibly open his canal.
Then, by aid of his servant, the doctor opened
the forty compartments of his medicine-chest, and
took from each a potion of drugs or simples, to
form a decoction in accordance with the rules laid
down in the irun-tsafif or Herbal of Li-Shichin, of the
Ming dynasty. Of the simples which were red in
color, he took out a large quantity, as they would
go directly to the heart; while those of the other
colors would operate on the other viscera. He also
gave a preference to those which were bitter and
sharp in taste, as they were yifiy female — and, like-
wise, produced their effect on the region of the heart.
The pith of plants, too, was pronounced better in
internal distempers than the bark, which was to
be used only in diseases of the skin, as the branches
were in those of the limbs ; the leaves which were
light in weight had a tendency towards the higher
organs of the breast, but the heavier wood sank

HE PALLS ILL, ETC. 77

into the kidneys and pit of the stomach ; and,
finally, a distinction was made in favor of the upper
parts of herbs, which were suited to the upper half
of the body, whereas, the roots produced the best
effects on the nether extremities. These nice
distinctions were pointed out to Hung-Jang and
his family, as the different simples were, one by one,
taken from the chest of drawers, and deposited in a
kettle.

These forty simples having been duly com-
pounded, and directions given for the administra-
tion of the decoction, as well as the pills, doctor
Tchong-king-ho's work was done. It remained only
to assure Hung-Jang that his son would be well in
seven days — to pocket a fee the poor rice-planter
could ill afford to pay — and to depart with his cane,
his servant, and his chest of drawers. The exit, as
well as the entire service, was done in the very best
style of the art, and could scarcely have been sur-
passed in its decorous gravity by that of doctor
Chin-Kwei himself, when he took leave of the
patient from whose abdomen he had removed one
half its viscera, and who got well, it is recorded
in the books, in thirty days afterwards. •

Siu-tshuen also got well ; and as his recovery

• Compare Du Halde.

78 TAI-PING-WAXG.

was subsequent to the taking of the learned doctor
Tchong-king-ho's medicines, they were considered
as having effected the cure. He continued, indeed,
to have violent attacks of delirium during the space
of nearly a month after the doctor's visit ; but when
they ceased, his health returned very rapidly.

XIV.

HE IS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A TRANCE.

The- illness of Siu-tshuen was not unto death,
but, rather, unto a new and higher life. For, in
the course of it, his disordered imagination saw
many visions which influenced very beneficially the
course of his subsequent career.

On awaking from the first of these delirious
dreams, wherein he had beheld himself transported
into the midst of a very great company of superior
beings, he thought he was going to die, and, calling
the family around him, said, " My days are num-
bered, and I am about to go into the presence of
Jen-lo-wang. Alas ! that I have made so poor re-
turns to you, my parents, for the numberless bless-
ings you have bestowed upon me. Would that I
could live to reflect lustre on your name, and
render your old age happy. But my days are
finished. I die."

He then fell asleep ; but awoke feeling better,

80 TAI-PING-WANG.

and did not set off for the realms of Jen-lo-wang,
the king of Hades, as he had anticipated.

From time to time, these dreams returned, at-
tended frequently with violent paroxysms of mad-
ness, when it was only by main strength that his
father and brothers could prevent his doing both
himself and others serious injury. He then ima-
gined the house filled with demons, or various
kinds of animals, such as dragons, and tigers. One
day, when laboring more under mental, than phy-
sical excitement, he fell into a trance, during which
his visions were not only much more connected
than usual, but so vivid, that he afterwards dis-
tinctly remembered them, and believed them to be
realities.

This dream opened with the sight of a very large
procession approaching him from a distance. It
came on with music, and banners flying ; with
lanterns, and lighted torches ; with artificial dra-
gons, and dire chimeras ; escorted by men-at-arms,
and mandarins' horsemen ; and preceded by volleys
of fire-crackers. When the procession arrived where
Siu-tshuen was, a splendid red and gilt sedan-chair
was set down before him, and, on entering it, he
was borne away as in triumph.

He was then transported into realms of surpass-
ing beauty, which were lighted neither by sun nor

N HE IS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A TRANCE. 81

moon, but where the atmosphere itself was lu«
minous. The sky was milky blue, with white
clouds ; the distant mountains were rose or pur-
ple ; the rivers gleamed like molten glass ; the
lakes gave back their banks in perfect reflections ;
the woodlands were vocal with the songs of in-
numerable birds ; and the emerald turf was gorge-
ous with flowers, which filled the air with sweet
odors.

In this paradise the inhabitants were of all ages,
but never grew older — time having no further power
over them. They lived in perpetual pleasures.
Birds' -nest soup and biche-de-mer were on every
table; the rice grew spontaneously; the tea was
better than " prince's eye-brow ;" the sam-shu was
superior to that of Vou-sie and Chao-king ; and the
wine equaled that from ** over the ocean." The
husbandmen had the pleasant fruits of the land for
the mere plucking ; the shepherds on the hillsides
did nothing all day long but smoke their pipes ;
and the mariners who went out upon the lakes, or
the great deep, were wafted, by airs imperceptible
to sense, whithersoever they would be.

All these immortals were dressed in silks, em-
broidered with threads of silver and of gold, and
were without queues. At their entertainments,

dancing-girls, fairer far than those of Suchau, moved
4»

82 TAI-PING-WANG.

in graceful measures to the sounds of flutes and
stringed instruments, which, like iEolian lyres,
seemed to breathe in the air. The bowers in which
these feasts were given, were festooned with
natural wreaths of flowers, and draped with climb-
ing plants whose tendrils fell from the lofty
branches of the trees till they swept the ground.
Fountains kept up their play in them without
ceasing, and the gentle sound of falling waters
everywhere soothed the ear in the intervals when
the gayer music of the air floated away, and was
lost in the distance.

With this life of soft delights, so different from
that of a schoolmaster among the mortals, Siu-
tshuen was enchanted.

But by a change in the scene, he suddenly found
himself in the company of an old woman who was
enjoying a sorry immortality of mere skin and bones,
and who. said to him, "Thou dirty man, why hast
thou kept company with those lovers of pleasure,
and defiled thyself? I must now wash thee clean."
Whereupon she conducted him down to the bank
of a golden-sanded river, in the cleansing waters of
which she washed and scrubbed him, as if he had
been a soiled jacket.

When Siu-tshuen came up out of the water, he
felt that he was made clean, and seeing on the banks

HE IS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A TRANCE. 83

of the river a magnificent palace, with a tower
reaching to the sky, he desired to be conducted to
it. The old woman replied that, having been
washed, he was worthy of being introduced into
the palace, and she would lead him thither.

Their way led at first along the river-bank. Be-
sides the gilded domes and thousand minarets of the
palace he was approaching, Siu-tshuen beheld with
admiration the numerous pleasure-boats which were
floating idly down the current of the river. The
sound of music was heard from many of them ; and
the figh in the pellucid waters seemed to be gam-
boling to its measures. They also disported in
shoals along the shallow margin of the stream, and
many of them, leaping out of the water, made the
air flash with phosphorescent light, and the brilliant
colors of their scales. Under foot, he trod at every
step on flowers which, pressed down in the soft
turf, immediately sprang up again from his footsteps ;
while overhead, a multitude of birds of every hue,
and the sweetest notes, warbled their mutual loves ;
squirrels, their cheeks full of nuts, chased each other
in graceful dallfance from bough to bough; and
fantastic apes, hanging by their tails, played games
of ball with oranges and cocoa-nuts, like school-boys
among the mortals.

As Siu-tshuen passed on, a high-thrown arch ad-

84 TAI-PING-WANG.

mitted him into the gardens of the palace. These
lay on the bank of the river, connected, on one side,
by bridges, with a number of floating islands that
lay moored in the broad current, and, on the other,
with a range of distant heights which fell down in a
graceful slope to the water. The paths wound,
now, through parks of lofty forest-trees; now,
through thickets of aromatic shrubbery ; now,
through glades where flocks and herds crept the
grass, or lay about in tranquil rumination. Small
streams of water, flowing down from the hills, were
frequently crossed by bridges which rested on
arches. A good many artificial islands and mounds,
also, were passed, and much rock-work, with caverns
and cascades, but all arranged with such a perfec-
tion of art as to rival the handy-work of nature.
With these gardens the Fa-tee at Canton, and those
of the golden and silver isles, below Nanking, could
bear no comparison.

As Siu-tshuen drew nearer to the palace, he began
to hear a delicate music, as if proceeding from hun-
dreds of silver bells. On asking his guide whence
the sounds proceeded, he was told to look at the
minarets on the roofs of the palace. He did so, and
there beheld the bells which, suspended from a
great number of points, so high as to be almost in-
visible, and agitated, from time to time, by the wings

HE IS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A TRANCE. 86

of zephyrs floating in the air, sent a chime of silvery
melodies down out of mid-heaven to undulate and
reecho through all the region round.

Through rows oT dwarf trees and shrub peonies,
purple, lilac, and deep red ; between borders planted
with the fingered citron, the fire-colored rose, and
jonquils, the bulb set upside down to make the
growth fantastic } by the side of pools filled with
the different varieties of the lotus-lily, with gold
fish playing between their stems; and, amid clusters
of blue camellias, yellow azalias, and magnolias red
and white, Siu-tshuen wound his way up flight
after flight of easy steps until he reached the gates
of the celestial palace.

Then the old woman handed him t)ver to the ser-
vants in waiting, telling them that he had been made
clean ; and these, in turn, took him into one of the
inner buildings of the palace, where he was to be
subjected to the operation of a change of heart.

There Siu-tshuen found a large company of vener-
able men assembled, including some of the ancient
sages, and among them the illustrious surgeon Chin-
kwei, who had lived on earth in the Liang dynasty.
He had been called in to perform, in the presence
of a crowd of worthies, the act of changing the heart
of the newly-arrived mortal.

Having his instruments duly arranged, he ordered

86 TAI-PING-WANG.

the patient to make bare his breast. When this had
been done, he removed the heart, and neighboring
parts, from Siu-tshuen's body in less time than it
had taken him to pull off his jacket. An attendant
standing by with a celestial and brilliantly-red heart
in his hand, doctor Chin-kwei clapped it into the
place of the one which had been extracted, and
sewed up the wound so cleverly that when Siu-
tshuen put on his clothes again, he could no longer
discern the scar. The operation was attended with
no pain whatsoever.

Siu-tshuen was now allowed to go into the pres-
ence of the lord of the palace. A number of the
venerable sages, who had been present at the oper-
ation of his change of heart, escorted him on his
way through the halls and courts of the extensive
pile of buildings. Its internal magnificence equaled
that of the exterior. Siu-tshuen passed through
marble halls beautifully decorated with inlaid stones
of great value ; through apartments hung with
magnificently-embroidered tapestry ; through others
entirely covered with gilding ; and others still, which
were stained with the most brilliant colors, and their
walls adorned either with paintings, or tablets, ex-
horting to virtue.

Siu-tshuen was amazed at all this splendor, and
came quite confounded into the presence of the

HE IS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A TRANCE. 87

lord of the mansion. Venerable in years, having a
long golden beard hanging down his breast, and
solemnly robed in black, this personage sat upon an
elevated throne, and received the stranger with
dignity, but much feeling. He was even affected
to tears, and briefly said, "All the human beings in
the world are created and sustained by me ; yet,
though they eat my food and wear my clothing, not
one of them all remembers and venerates me ; they
even take of my gifts and pervert them to the
worship of demons ; they purposely rebel against
me, and arouse my anger. Imitate them not."*

When the aged lord of the palace had finished
this speech, he gave Siu4shuen a sword, telling him
to exterminate the demons with it ; also a seal
which should give him power over evil spirits ; and
a yellow fruit from the tree of life which was sweet
to the taste. Then, exhorting him to take courage
for the work it was given him to do, and promising
his constant assistance and protection, he dismissed
him from his presence.

As Siu-tshuen retired from the palace, he exhort-
ed all whom he met to venerate "the old man."
Some acknowledged that they had neglected him,
and others said, " Why should we spend our time in

• Compare Rev. I. J. Robert's statement in " Putnam's Monthly,"
OctoUr, 1&6.

88 TAI-PING-WANG.

worshiping him ? Let us only be merry and drink
with our friends." So that even at the very gates
of the palace, Siu-tshuen found none whose piety
was perfect, not even that of Confucius himself,
who had just been reproved from the throne for not
having declared the whole truth in his writings.

While conversing with this ancient sage, Siu-
tshuen was approached by a person of middle age,
whom he afterwards called Jesus, his "elder broth-
er," and who led him away to the top of the tower
belonging to the palace. Thence showing him the
earth in the distance, he said, " Behold the people
in yonder world ; they are wicked in all the thoughts
of their hearts."

Thereupon, Siu-tshuen, looking over the face of the
earth, saw that it was indeed full of wickedness ;
and his eyes not being able to endure the sight of
80 much iniquity, he awoke from his trance.

XV.

HE IS DELIBIOUS AND CHASES DEMONS THROUGH THE EARTH.

When Siu-tshuen awoke from his trance, being
fully convinced of the reality of what he had seen
in imagination, he arose, tottered into the presence
of his father, and, making a low bow, said, ** The
venerable old man above has commanded that all
men shall turn to me, and all treasures shall flow
to me."

At these words his father was amazed. He had
frequently heard his son talk wildly during his at-
tacks of delirium ; but he never before had seen
him so calm in his excitement, and so serious in his
madness. No reply, however, was attempted by
the former to language the purport tff which he
did not at all comprehend ; and the latter, com-
pletely overcome by the effort he had made, both
physical and mental, immediately returned to his
mat.

But the next day, Siu-tshuen was more furious

90 TAI-PING-WANG.

than ever. He leaped about in his narrow room,
fighting like a soldier with sword in hand. At the
same time he shouted aloud, crying repeatedly, " Tsan
jan, tsan jan, tsan ah! tsan ah;^^ that is, "Slay the
demons, slay the demons, slay, slay !"

He was in imagination pursuing the enemies of
" the old man," having in one hand the sword which
had been given him, and in the other the seal.
"Here is one," he cried out, "and there is one;
legions of them cannot stand before me." Every-
thing within reach was turned topsy-turvy in pur-
suit of the demons. He hunted for them forty
times a day under his mat, on his shelves, in the
four corners of his chamber.

" How could these imps dare oppose me ?" he
continued to cry out. " I must slay them ; I must
slay them. Many hosts cannot resist me."

As in fancy he pressed on in the chase after the
fiends, they seemed to undergo various transforma-
tions, now flying away as birds, and now leaping
like wild beasts. Then, they filled the room in
the form of reptiles and creeping things. At
one time, he would scatter them like rats and mice ;
at another, he would hug them as if they were
bears ; or, quietly seating himself, would search for
them as for fleas in his blanket. And when these
ugly fiends could not be reached with his sword,

HE IS DELIRIOUS, ETC. 91

he held up his seal towards them, at sight of which
they fled away, and were no more seen.

Often, on his incursions into the enemy's country,
he was accompanied by his " elder brother," Jesus,
whose acquaintance he had made in the trance, and
who did him much good service. Like a pair of
brothers they roamed to and fro in the earth, and
swept their course clean of all under heaven that
dared to oppose them.

At times, Siu-tshuen, stringing as many demons
as he could get on his sword, like snipes on a spit,
hurled them by the dozen into the abyss of hell.
Then he would laugh aloud, and exclaim, "Aha!
they cannot withstand me." The falling imps were
caught on the roof of the eight-storied place of tor-
ment, which was covered over with spears of great
length, and whereon they lay quivering and wrig-
gling like flies stuck through by the pin of a school-
boy. By thousands upon thousands were the
demons hurled upon the sharp-pointed spears, there
left to be judged for their deeds done upon earth,
and, after sentence, to be distributed among the
different apartments, according as they were to be
roasted, or otherwise put to torture. Frequently
Siu-tshuen stopped to behold the flames as they
curled over the chimney-tops of the infernal furnaces,
and listening, heard the bones of the demons crackle

92 TAI-PING-WANG.

like thorns under a pot, and their hides hiss and
sputter like steaks on a gridiron.

Thereupon he would rub his hands with glee, and
say to himself, " Now will * the old man' be content
with me."

At other times Siu-tshuen, though equally mad,
was more calm. Then he would exhort his brothers
and all present to join him in the service of the
" venerable old man ;" entreating them with tears,
and words of reproof. " You have no hearts," he
would say, " to venerate the ' old father,' but are in
fellowship with the fiends. Indeed, indeed, you
have no hearts, no conscience more."

Some person had most of the time to watch at
his door, to prevent his running out of the house.
He was known through the village as the madman ;
but when so called, he laughed aloud, and said, "In-
deed, I am not mad." He even declared himself to
be the Emperor of China, and was much pleased
when he was addressed by this title. In his better
moods, he occasionally took his pencil, and wrote
verses, some of which bear marks of the '* fine frenzy"
of genuine poetry. The following is a specimen :

<'My hand now holds, both in heaven and earth, the power to panish

and kill ;
To slay the depraved, and spare the upright ; to relieve the people's

distress.

HE IS DELIRIOUS, ETC. SB

My eyes survey from the north to the south, beyond the rivers and

mountains ;
My voice is heard from the east to the west, to the tracts of the sun

and the moon.
The dragon expands his claws, as if the road in the clouds were too

narrow ;
And when he aacends, why should he fear the bent of the milky-way ?
Then tempest and thunder as music attend, and the foaming waves

are excited ;
The flying dragon, the yik-king describes, dwells surely in heaven

above."

Meanwhile, Hung-Jang remained sorely distressed
on account of his son's illness. He consulted all
the doctors and old wives, far and near, but none of
their arts could effectually minister to the disease of
either the body, or the mind. At last it occurred
to him, that this great calamity might have arisen
from the circumstance that the geomancer had
selected an unlucky spot for the burial of his wife,
or some of his kindred. So he called for the fortune-
teller and other magicians, and ordered them to go
with their compasses to the burial-ground, and by
their arts ascertain if any soul had been uncomfort-
ably and improperly buried. They thereupon set oif
upon this errand, expecting that it would give them
all occupation for a month ; and had not Siu-tshuen
suddenly become better, it would have gone hard
but what they would have disturbed the resting-
place of every ppor soul on the hillside, and

94 TAI-PING-WANG.

brought the sleeping bones of the four generations
of Hungs above ground.

Fortunately Siu-tshuen's recovery prevented this
desecration, besides saving the expense of further
disinterment-fees. He began to mend from the day
when his father found in a crack of the door-post a
slip of paper on which was written, in red ink, the
following inscription :

** The noble yrinciplcs of the heavenly king, the sove-
reign imncc Tsliucny

So, at the end of forty days, the son of Tlung-Jang
was restored to health of both body and mind ; and
there was an end of his visions.

XVI.

HK BEADS THE TRACTS OF LIANQ AFAH, AMD BAPTIZES HIM-
SELF.

With his recovery a great change came over Siu- '
tshuen. His physical system gradually received its
final development into manhood, his height being
increased, his shoulders broadened, his step be-
coming more firm, and his presence more imposing.
His mind, also, was the subject of a no less marked
expansion. A greater liberality characterized his
views, as well as more earnestness. He was dis-
posed to converse with men more, and to pore over
books less. The aged and the virtuous sought his
company to listen to the strange narrative of his
visions, which he repeated very cheerfully, and to
derive instruction from one whose thoughts had the
charm of originality, as well as of earnest sincerity.
But the frivolous could take no pleasure in his
words, and the vicious hid their faces from his re-
proofs. J

96 TAI-PING-WANG.

He now opened, for the second time, his school in
Water-Lily ; where he taught with more success
than ever, as well as mixed more in the society of
men, both learned and unlearned. - Such were, how-
ever, his recollections of" the blossom and fragrance
of the pharmacopoeia," which had been administer-
ed to him during his illness by doctor Tchong-king-
ho, that he avoided intercourse with this learned
professor, and never went to renew his disputes
with him respecting the doctrines of Confucius, and
Chu-h^.

One more attempt, and the last, was now made
to obtain a degree at Canton. But it was written in
the book of the fates that he should never become
a siu-tsai, much less, cross the threshold of the
"Forest of Pencils Society." He was to have his
brow bound with the golden round of empire, and
not with the fragrant olive of letters. Conscious,
however, of deserving the latter long before he ever
dreamed of being rewarded with the former, an
N^ unquenchable ambition to become distinguished,
which had before contributed towards prostrating
his health, now became the breath of his life, and
led to such resolves and efforts as were the almost
inevitable precursors of success.

" Divine Providence," it has been profanely said,
" is always on the side of the most cannon." But,

HE BAPTIZES HIMSELF. 97

to bring out of the paddy-fields of Hung-Jang a
power to shake the empire of the Manchus, who,
for two centuries, had ruled the three hundred
millions of the Middle Kingdom, was to accomplish
its purposes by an instrumentality as feeble as that
of the fishermen who subverted the dominion of
classic antiquity, and sat down in the seat of the
Caesars.

And the time had now fully come when this
humble instrument was to be brought into action.
During ten long years the pious tracts of Liang Afah
had lain undisturbed on the shelf of Siu-tshuen ;
but the dust was at length to be brushed from their
covers, and they were to be a light in his path, to
lighten him until he should ascend the steps of a
throne, and fulfill the divine purpose of converting
millions of men from the error of idolatry.

One day, in the year 1843, it happened that a
relative of Siu-tshuen, of the Li family, in examin-
ing the contents of his book-case, fell upon the
Christian tracts, entitled ** Good words for exhorting
the age." On inquiring respecting their character,
he was told by his kinsman that they were
strange books, which he had read years ago, but
without deriving from them much information, or
instruction. The curiosity of Li, however, being
excited, he requested permission to take the books

98 TAI-PING-WANG.

home and read them. He was allowed to do so ,
and after perusal, he returned them, saying that
they seemed to him very extraordinary productions,
and very different from Chinese writings.*
f This induced Siu-tshuen to give the tracts a se-
cond perusal. He began reading them attentively ;
and, as he read, much which before was unintelligi-
ble now revealed its meaning. Suddenly, it occur-
red to him, like a light flashing into a dark place,
that there was a correspondence between these
books and the visions of his illness. The former
were a key and explanation of the latter. They
mutually confirmed each other. The "venerable
old man" whom he had beheld sitting on the throne
was God, the heavenly Father, and the man of
" middle age," who had instructed and aided him in
exterminating the demons, was Jesus, the Saviour of
the world. These demons were the idols worshiped
by his countrymen ; and the brothers and sisters,
whom he had been directed to spare, were the wor-
shipers themselves.

This confirmation of the reality of his visions
filled the heart of Siu-tshuen with joy. His imagi-
nation being excited to the highest pitch, he saw

• Compare the statement of Rev. I. , J. Roberts, in " Putnam's
Monthly." October, 1856.

HE BAPTIZES HIMSELF. 99

the idols of the land already cast down from their ~^
shrines, as the demons had been hurled from earth
into hell. Straightway, he removed the tablet of
Confucius from his school-room, and persuaded his
fellow-student, Li, who had caught a portion of his
enthusiasm, to throw away his idols. Then, learn-
ing from the Christian books the necessity of bap-
tism to salvation, they took a bowl, and poured
water, each upon his own head, saying, " Purifica-
tion from all sin — putting off the old — regenera-
tion."

This act performed, Siu-tshuen gave vent to his
new emotions by the composition of the following
lines on repentance :

" "VVhen our transgressions high as heaven rise,
How well to trust in Jesus' full atonement I
We follow not the demons ; we obey
The holy precepts — worshiping alone
One God, and thus we cultivate our hearts.
The heavenly glories open to our view,
And every being ought to seek thereafter.
I much deplore the miseries of hell.
O turn ye to the fruits of true repentance 1
Let not your hearts be led by worldly customs."

XVII.

HE MAKES PROSELYTES AND 0BDER8 A SWOBD.

Siu-TSHUEN now began to speak freely with his
friends respecting his new belief, adducing his visions,
and the Christian books, as reciprocal evidence of their
truth. *' These books," said he, " are certainly sent
purposely by heaven to me, to confirm the truth of
my former experiences ; if I had received the books
without having gone through the sickness, I should
not have dared to believe in them, and on my own
account to oppose the customs of the whole world ;
if I had merely been sick, but not also received the
books, I should have had no further evidence as to
the truth of my visions, which might also have been
considered as mere productions of a diseased imagi-
nation."

In studying these foreign writings Siu-tshuen be-
came most interested in the portions of sacred Scrip-
ture which were contained in them, as he found
these both easier to be comprehended, and more

HE MAKES PROSELYTES, ETC* 4G1

corroborative of his dreams, th£Y> the 'hymilfeS 'a'tfd
arguments of Liang Afah. His interpretations of^
the text, however, were made to suit his own views.
Whenever the personal pronouns occurred in the
sacred pages, he referred them to himself ; and the
word tshuen, signifying perfectt wholcy allt was also
understood to be his own name. Thus, where it
is written, " Their voice is gone out to the whole
world," the country of Tshuen was meant ; and the
phrase, ** altogether righteous, more to be desired
than gold," he read, " Tshuen is righteous, more to
be desired than gold." ** Who can understand, so
as Tshuen, his errors," was another similar reading. J

Supplied with such apparently striking proofs of "?
the heavenly origin of his commission to preach
against the worship of idols, and in favor of that of
the one true God, he declared boldly to his friends,
"I have received the immediate commands of God ;
ihr will of heaven rests with me. Although there-
by I should meet with calamity, difficulties, and
suffering, yet, I am resolved to act. By disobeying
the heavenly command, I should only rouse the
anger of God ; and are not these books the founda-
tion of all the true doctrines contained in others?"

His first efforts at gaining proselytes were made
among his most intimate friends. Being one day on
a visit to his father's house, he went to a neighbor-

10:^ TAI-PING-WANG.

lug .vjUa^e to talk with one of his associates, who
was called P'hang. But this person not only re-
mained stubborn in his unbelief of the new doctrine,
derived from strange books and visions, but actually
thought that Siu-tshuen was going mad again, and
directed a trustworthy man to see him safely home.
Not at all disheartened, however, by the ill success
of his attempt on the unbelief of P'hang, the preach-
er set upon his attendant, as they walked together,
and plied him with such earnestness of argumenta-
tion and sincerity of conviction, that, before reach-
ing the end of their way, the latter said, "I believe."
This was Siu-tshuen's second convert, Li having
been the first. He was named Chun, and was bap-
tized in the canal along the pathside by the wash-

, ingof his head.

f" With his two intimate friends, Fung Jun-san and
Hun^-Jin, the success of the new teacher of righte-
ousness was greater than it had been with P'hang.
They received his words into willing minds, and
were baptized in the school-room of the former ; for
both were teachers. But afterwards, thinking them
not made sufficiently clean, Siu-tshuen took both
down to the canal, and had them thoroughly washed
and scrubbed, after the fashion of the old woman
who had performed the ceremony upon himself in
heaven.

HE MAKES PROSELYTES, ETC. 108

Thereupon, Siu-tshuen removed the idols and tab- "^
lets from the school-rooms of the two converts, and
indited the following quartet :

" Besides the God of heaven there is no other God ;
Why do the foolish men take falsehood to be truth ?
Since their primeval heart is altogether lost,
How can they now escape defilement from the dast?"

J
And to this, Hung-Jin wrote a reply after the
Chinese fashion — the lines concluding with the same
words — as follows :

" The mighty heavenly Father, he is the one true God.
Idols are made of wood, or moalded from the clod.
We trust that Jesus came to save us who were lost,
That we may soon escape defilement from the dust."

Hung-Jang, more convinced than ever that his son
was as great a favorite with the heavenly powers as
with himself, embraced the new doctrine, and was
baptized, with all his household. But though this
event filled the filial heart of Siu-tshuen with the
greatest satisfaction, he found numerous skeptics in
the circle of his friends and relatives. Some mock-
ed ; among whom was a siu-tsai, by the name of Wun,
who, when exhorted to accept the new views, re-
plied with such ridicule of them that Siu-tshuen left
his house in anger, refusing to partake of the fowl
which had been killed for him. -j

Hung-Jin, also, was badly beaten by his elder bro-

104 TAI-PING-WANG.

ther, and driven out of the house, with rent gar-
ments, because he had removed the tablet of
Confucius from his school-room, and thereby lost all
his pupils. But the maltreated young man meekly
replied, *' Am I not a teacher, and Confucius only a
dead man ?, Why should I worship him ?"
r^ Finally, the elders of the village, wishing to hold
a " feast of lanterns," desired Siu-tshuen and Hung-
Jin, who enjoyed the reputation of being the most
accomplished poets of the day, to write songs for
the occasion ; and the converts declining to aid by
their pencils in the idolatrous festivity, they were
pelted with doggrel by the offended versifiers of the
old superstition. Thus arose a brief war of verses,
in which the Christian poets seem to have had de-
cidedly the best of it, and in the course of which the
following reply was composed by Siu-tshuen :

" Not because of evil saying,
Did we disobey your orders ;
We but honor God's commandments —
Act according to his precepts.
Heaven's and perdition's way
Most be rigidly distinguished.
We dare not, in thoughtless manner,
Hurry through the present life."

The first struggles for the faith having been at-
tended with a considerable degree of success, though
many disbelieved, and others stood in fear of the

HE MAKES PROSELYTES, ETC. 105

people, Siu-tshuen was encouraged in interpreting 7
those passages in the Old Testament which speak
of God*s chosen race, as meaning the Chinese, and
of the promised possession of the heavenly kingdom
as referring to the empire to be reserved for himself
and his followers. To prepare himself and his friend \
Li, therefore, for playing the parts of a Moses and a
Joshua, he ordered two swords to be made of the
weight of nine pounds English, each ; three and a
half feet in length ; and to be inscribed with charac-
ters signifying, ** Demon-Exterminating Sword." ^

Thereupon, rejoicing in the anticipated triumph
of their faith, they chanted together the following
hymn, written by Siu-tshuen :

" With the three ^oot sword ia oar hand,
Do we quiet the sea and the land.
Surrounded by ocean, all forming one clan,
Dwells man in harmonious union.
We seize all the demons, and shut them up
In the depths of the earth ;
We gather the traitorg, and let them fall
la the heavenly net.
All the four parts of tho world
Depend on the sovereign pole.
The sun, the moon, and the stars,
Join in the chorus of triumph.
The tigers roar, the dragon sings ;
The world is full of light.
When over all great peace prevails,
O, what a state of bliss !''
5*

XVIII.

HE GOES TO THE MOXTNTAINS OF KWAN0-8I.

While the religious enthusiasm of Siu-tshuen
mounted so high that, like the Apostle Peter, he
demanded a sword, the amount of cash in his pockets
was daily running lower and lower. The removal
of the tablet of Confucius from the wall of his room
had cleared it of pupils, and left his bamboos with-
out a single back to be exercised on. " No scholars,
no rice," is an adage with Chinese professors ; and
Siu-tshuen's present experience did not disprove it.

r Finding, then, by the poverty to which he was
reduced in the course of a few weeks, that preach-
ing in Hwa-hien would not keep him from starva-
tion, and reading, at the same time, in the foreign
scriptures, that a prophet is not without honor, save
in his own country, and in his own house, he con-
ceived the design of setting off on a mission to his

^ relatives in the province of Kwang-si. Two mem-
bers of the Hung clan, there resident, had come the

THE MOUNTAINS OF KWANG-SI. 107

previous year on a visit to Hwa-hien, and had car-
ried back the news of the new religion. Siu-tshuen,
therefore, resolved to follow in the track of these
forerunners. He had never in his life been further
from home than Canton, and the journey to the dis-
tant mountains of Kwang-si was not without its
attractions to the romantic mind of the dweller in
the rice-plains. But how to subsist on the way,
was the question. This, however, he resolved, by
determining that he would trust to Divine Provi-
dence, and the trade, which he proposed to take up,
of peddling pencils and ink-stones.

Accordingly, taking with him Fung Yun-san, and
two others, he started, in the second month of the
year eighteen hundred and forty-four, for Kwang-si.
With a few pencils and ink-stones in their pockets
instead of cashy these humble schoolmasters set off
on their errand of proselytism, as poor as the inspired
fishermen, when commencing the circuit of Galilee ;
but, as they took the first step on their way, the re-
cording angel of heaven wrote down in the book of
life the names of tens and hundreds of thousands
who were to be converted from the worship of
idols.

In a few days the travelers reached a district
called Clear-far, where resided a branch of the Li
family, and where afterwards Hung-Jin had -great

108 TAI-PING-WANG.

success in both teaching and baptizing. They pre-
pared the way for his coming ; for they spent nearly
a week here, proclaiming the doctrines that men
should abstain from idolatry, and worship the one
true God, who had sent his Son into the world to
save from hell all those who should repent, and be-
lieve in his name. Many received their words with
faith, and gave them the means of continuing their
journey.

With cheerful hearts, therefore, they went on their
way from Clear-far ; and Siu-tshuen, as he surveyed
the beautiful panorama from the high ground on
which stood the village where he had been enter-
tained, gave vent to his delight by chanting his odes,
together with the nineteenth, and thirty-third psalms,
which he had committed to memory from the vo-
lumes of Liang Afah. *

It was in the third month that the pilgrims
reached the foot of the mountains of Kwang-si.
Hitherto they had advanced on their journey with-
out much inconvenience, preaching as they went,
and obtaining at least sufficient contributions to
supply their daily wants. But as the mountains,
inhabited in part by the wild tribes of the Miautsz',
now rose in their path, the hearts of the two attend-
ants of Siu-tshuen and Yun-san failed them, and
they turned back. But it was not. in the nature of

THE MOUNTAINS OF KWANG-SI. 109

either of the others to do this. They bravely breasted
the mountain-side, and penetrated, though without a
guide, into its narrow defiles and valleys.

The lively air of the elevated region elated the
spirits of Siu-tshuen, reminding him of the golden
days of his youth, spent in tending herds in the hill-
country. Whenever he sat down to rest, the most
pleasing reflections arose in his mind as spontane-
ously as grew the orange-colored fi*uit of the kum-
quat over his head ; and he recalled to memory the
saying of Confucius that, "By studying in the re-
tirement of the mountains and water-falls, man re-
turns to the primitive goodness of his nature."
Having also a keen enjoyment of the beauties of
natural scenery, he took great delight, as he climbed
the summits, in turning round to survey the land-
scape of the plains, lying far lower than any he had
before seen. His eye, likewise, was attracted by
the noble forest-growth ; and as repeatedly during
his journey he had called the attention of Yun-san
to the hills completely covered with white camellias,
or the yellow azaleas — to the lakes, and canal-sides,
gay with lotus flowers — and to ravines where the bam-
boo, both black and yellow, shot up nearly fifty feet
in the air its clean, straight stem, with graceful top,
and branches waving in the wind — so now he spoke
often of the beauty of the tall pines and oaks, the

110 T AI-PING-WANG.

yews and cypresses, the camphor and the tallow-
tree, and also of the fragrant tropical brushwood,
including the downy myrtle, with its rose-colored
blossoms, the camellia japonicas, of the single red
variety, twenty or thirty feet high, and the lovely
glycine, climbing to the loftiest tree-tops, and hang-
ing its flowering festoons gracefully from branch to
branch. Yun-san, on the other hand, reminded his
companion that they were in the midst of that region
which supplied the best materials for coffins in the
country, and quoted the common saying that, ** To
render life perfectly happy, it is necessary to be born
at Su-chau, in order to be handsome ; to live at Canton,
to be luxurious ; and to die in the province of Kwang-
si, whose forests yield beautiful wood for coffins."

After four days had been spent in wandering about
in the mountains, the two friends fell in with a
Chinese schoolmaster, by the name of Kiang, who
was teaching in one of the villages of the Miautsz'.
This pedagogue, glad to meet with persons of his
own profession from the lowlands, not only enter-
tained them cheerfully, and gave them some supplies
and directions for the remainder of their journey, but
also allowed himself to be converted to their faith.

With renewed strength, then, they resumed their
travels ; but they were destined to meet with much
fatigue and privation before coming to the end of

THE MOUNTAINS OF KWANG-SI. Ill

them. There were but few villages on their route ;
and the occasional sheds, kept for the accommoda-
tion of wayfarers, rarely furnished them with any-
thing more than a roof, a cup of tea, and, perhaps, a
few sugar-cakes. But Siu-tshuen and his compan-
ion bravely followed the direction of the Chinese
proverb, which says, " What is lacking in food must
be made up in water." Of this there was enough ;
for all the valleys were threaded by streams, the
passing of which was sometimes no easy matter.
The bridges, where there were any, consisted of
large stones thrown into the water, or trees felled
across from bank to bank, or, in some instances, of
iron chains with planks to walk upon. But Siu-
tshuen followed the path as it crossed the torrents,
climbed the steeps, and wound round the preci-
pices, as if it were all a path of faith. The immense
and fantastically shaped masses of rock, the deep
chasms, the tumbling cascades, the winds sighing in
the pines, and the tempest rattling among the
crags, all filled his mind with awe, greater even
than that he had experienced when walking in his
dreams through the gardens and the palace of the
Lord of heaven.

At length, at the end of nearly three weeks of
wandering through the mountains, during which
time the two companions sometimes for twenty-four

112 T AI-PING-WANG.

hours together partook of no other sustenance than
roots and berries, and that kind of food commended
in the proverb before mentioned, the travelers
arrived at Valley-home, the residence of their rela-
tive Wang. It was indeed with joy and thanks to
God that they shook off the dust of their long and
perilous journey at the hospitable threshold of their
kinsman, who in turn manifested scarcely less satis-
faction on seeing Siu-tshuen and his friend, respect-
ing whom the two clansmen, returned the year be-
fore from Hwa-hien, had given him some information.
Here the evangelists remained several months,
teaching daily the new doctrine to this branch of
the tribe of the Hungs. And such was the sin-
cerity with which Siu-tshuen narrated the history
of his books and visions, and such the eloquence with
which he urged the turning away from idols to the
w^orship of the one true God, and of Jesus his Son,
who had made an atonement for the sins of the
world, that not only Wang, but several hundred
others, believed the good news of salvation from the
pains of hell, and were baptized. Siu-tshuen was
looked upon as having come down from heaven to
reveal unto them the new doctrine. They believed
him to be more than a mortal. And this belief was
considerably strengthened by the circumstance that
a petition, which he wrote in behalf of a son of

THE MOUNTAINS OF KWANG-SI. 113

Wang, who had been unjustly thrown into prison
by the local magistrate, had the effect of procuring
a release. Only a messenger from heaven, it was
thought, could so easily unlock the prison-doors of
the petty tyrant of the district ; and the young man
himself, by name Wang-ugi, believed in his rescuer
as the unbound Peter did in the angel who had de-
livered him out the hand of Herod. -^

When at length the tenth month came, Siu-tshu-~^
en directed Yun-san to return to Hwa-hien, pur-
posing himself to remain some time longer. Yun-
san accordingly departed ; but being well received
at a place on the way, called Thistle-mount, he
took up his abode there ; and, during several years,
continued, not only teaching, but also preaching
with 80 great success that large numbers were bap-
tized, and a society was established, which became
known under the title of ** The Congregation of the
Worshipers of God."

Soon after, Siu-tshuen himself, having success-
fully accomplished the object of his mission, left
Valley-home ; and, returning by a shorter route,
reached Hwa-hien before the end of the year. This,
however, was not a final leave-taking of his friends
in Kwang-si ; for it was destined that the insurrec-
tion should commence in this province. But the
fullness of time had not yet come.

XIX.

HE WRITES REUaiOUS ESSAYS AND POEMS.

When, on the return home of Siu-tshuen, it be-
came known that he had accomplished the journey
to the distant mountains of Kwang-si, and there
preached the new doctrine with great success, his
reputation rose higher than it had ever been before
through all the villages in his native district. He
was regarded both as a far-traveled man, and the
founder of a new religious sect. Many, therefore,
who would not listen to his words before he had
not been further from home than Canton, now gath-
ered around the missionary who had told the story of
his books and dreams in the mountains of the wild
Miautsz'. Some, who had been the loudest mock-
ers, gladly submitted their heads to baptism in the
canal ; and Siu-tshuen became established as a regu-
lar preacher of the foreign righteousness, with a
respectable body of followers. He was also suc-
cessful in reopening his school, which he continued

HE WRITES RELIGIOUS ESSAYS AND POEMS. 115

to teach for the space of two years, the boys soon
forgetting the tablet of Confucius, the absence of
which at first had raised their queues in terror.

During these two years a large number of verses ^
and essays were written by him on the subject of
the new religion, the principal of which were
afterwards rewritten and published in " The Impe-
rial Declaration of Tai-ping-wang," under the titles
of, " An Ode on the Origin of Virtue and the Saving
of the World," *' An Ode on Correctness, *' An Essay
on the Origin of Virtue, for the Awakening of the
Age," and, " Further Exhortations on the Origin of
Virtue, for the Awakening of the Age."* }

In the ode, the poet declares that all men are
created with a '* natural conscience" to teach them
what is right, and that, from the time of Pwan-koo,
the first Chinese man, down to that of the three
dynasties, which was about two hundred years be-
fore Christ, they obeyed it. and worshiped the one
true God — Shang-Teh. He is represented as being
the common father of the human family ; and by
his decrees, which constitute fate, are all the events
of life determined.

•* He warms us by his sun, he nourishes us by his rain,
He moves the thunder-bolt, he scatters the wind."

* Compare Ho. of Reps. Ex. Doc., No. 123,XXXind Congress,
Ist Session, pp. 144-155.

116 T AI-PING- WANG.

" God should be worshiped," continues the poet,
"morning and evening ; but the best service which
can be rendered him is that of a virtuous life." Vir-
tue is defined, in a Confucian sense, to be correct-
ness, or the avoiding of extremes in desire and con-
duct ; and the golden rule is adduced as the best
practical guide of life.

" Do as you would be done by, and you will always do right."
" If you do not regard small matters, you will at length spoil great
virtues."

Among the vices chiefly condemned, is dis-
obedience to parents, which is declared to be
disobedience to God ; and as

" The lamb kneels to reach the teat— the crow retonu the food to
its dam,
So when men are not equal to brutes, they disgrace their origin."

Another vice which is stigmatized, is lewdness ;
for,

*' Those who debauch others, debauch themselves, and they be-
come fiends together."

A third wrong specified, is murder, and the in-
jury of others.

" AH under heaven are our brethren.
From of old, those who have saved others, have thereby saved

themselves.
Happiness is of one's own seeking, and is easily obtained.

HE WRITES RELIGIOUS ESSAYS AND POEMS. 117

From of old, those who have iojared others, have injured them-
selves.
Misery is of one's own choosing, and is with difQculty avoided."

Other violations of the divine law enumerated are
robbery, theft, gambling, and the excessive use of
wine and opium.

The prose essays inculcate liberality of sentiment
and conduct, not only between man and man, but
also between nations. The feuds among clans, and
the mutual contempt entertained by different tribes
and peoples, proceed from ignorance of each other's
character, and from narrow-mindedness.

The general principle is laid down that univer-
sality is the only test of truth. The opinions of the
day, and of the neighborhood, are to be suspected
as contracted and false, unless confirmed by the
beliefs of men of all ages, and in all parts of the
earth. " When the mind is enlarged, happiness is
great,'* says the essayist ; " but contracted views
are like those of a frog at the bottom of a well."

The folly, also, of the superstitious notions of
Buddha and Taou are pointed out ; various idola-
trous beliefs, which have prevailed at particular
times and places, are condemned ; and the good
days of Yaou and Shun are praised, when " men,
who possessed anything, regarded those who pos-
sessed it not ; they aided each other in calamity ;

lid

TAI-PING-WANG.

at night no man closed his doors, and no man picked
up that which was dropped on the road ; men and
women walked on separate paths ; and, in promot-
ing men to office, virtue was chiefly regarded."

Several of these doctrines are illustrated by the
following ode.

" God is originally our universal Father ;
Afl the spring to the fountain and the root to the tree, so is he the

true origin.
Liberal-hearted, he treats one nation like another ;
Kindly disposed, he regards the inhabitants of earth and heaven

alike.
When brutes injure each other, it is still improper ;
But when neighbors slay one another, it is far more wicked.
Heaven having produced and nourished us all, we should be

harmonious ;
Let us, then, promote each other's peace, and enjoy tranquillity.-'

But while occupied with the composition of these
writings, there was a secret thought in the bottom
of Siu-tshuen's heart, to which he gave no public
utterance. This was intrusted only to the ears of
his faithful friend Hung- Jin, then a teacher at
Clear-far, where he had succeeded in getting a
school, by so far compromising his principles as to
allow his pupils to worship Confucius, while he did
not do it himself. But, being both intelligent and
devoted to Siu-tshuen, he was made a confidant of
by the latter, who revealed to him the wish, which
had sprung up, and was kept hid in his breast, to

HE WHITES RELIGIOUS ESSAYS AND POEMS. 119

deliver his countrymen some day from the bondage
of the Manchus.

As he reflected how, for two hundred years, these
Tartars, though comparatively a handful, had ruled
over the native Chinese, still keeping their own
race distinct, residing in separate quarters of the
cities, and retaining in their hands all the chief
offices of the army, and a large proportion of those
of the state, his heart burned within him, and he
said one day to Jin, ** God has divided the kingdoms
of the world, and made the ocean to be a boundary
for them, just as a father divides his estates among
his sons ; every one of whom ought to reverence the
will of his father, and quietly manage his own pro-
perty. Why, now, should these Manchus forcibly
enter China, and rob their brothers of their estate ?"

At a later period, he reverted to the subject in a
tone of more confidence, saying, ♦* If God will help
me to recover our estate, I ought to teach all
nations to hold every one its own possessions, with-
out injuring or robbing one another ; we will have
intercourse in communicating true principles and
wisdom to each other, and receive each other with
propriety and politeness ; we will serve to-
gether one common heavenly Father, and honor
together the doctrines of one common heavenly
Brother, the Saviour of the world ; this has been

120 TAI-PING-WANG.

the wish of my heart since the time when my soul
was taken up to heaven."

Not long after, Siu-tshuen had a dream, which
made considerable impression on his mind, wherein
he saw a globe of fire like the sun, hovering over
his head, and which became associated in his
thoughts with the famous king whose coming, at
the end of five hundred years, was foretold by Men-
cius. Believing this personage to be none other
than himself, and that he was destined not only to
remove the idols out of the land, but also to expel
the Manchus, he composed the following lines upon
the subject :

" Now that five hundred ycara have past,

The true sun moves in sight ;
And how shall these poor glowworms dare

To rival it in light?
On its suspense in heaven's arch

All vapors disappear ;
And as it shines, demons and imps

Are hidden out of fear.
The North and South, the East and West,

To it their homage pay.
And hosts of the barbarian tribes

Are yielding to its sway.
The stars, by its great splendor, in

Obscurity are hurled.
And solely its pure brilliant rays

Illuminate the world."

At this time, Siu-tshuen said nothing to any one,

HE WRITES RELIGIOUS ESSAYS AND POEMS. 121

excepting his friend, Hung-Jin, respecting his hope

of delivering his countrymen from the yoke of the

Tartars, but he often pondered over it in his

heart.
6

XX.

HE VISITS AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY IN CANTON.

Meanwhile, the news was brought to Ilwa-hien
by one Mou-li-pau, wlio often came and went be-
tween this district and the capital of the province,
that a foreign missionary was preaching, at Canton,
doctrines similar to those promulgated by Siu-
tshuen. And some time after, the same person,
having given information to this missionary respect-
ing the new religious sect in llwa-hien and Kwang-
si, brought a letter from the latter's assistant to
Siu-tshuen, inviting him to *' come and assist him
in preaching."

Upon the reception of this invitation, Siu-tshuen,
taking with him his friend Hung-Jin, went to Can-
ton, and presented himself before the American mis-
sionary. Rev. I. J. Roberts.

He was then about thirty-four years of age ; was
five feet five inches in height ; and in person was
muscular, broad-shouldered, and generally well-

HE VISITS AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY. 123

proportioned. His hands and feet were small. His
head was oval, with regular and decidedly hand-
some features ; a complexion of the color of an oak-
leaf faded ; dark, hair, though inclining to brown in
the beard; small ears; nose higher than usual in
his countrymen ; and eyes black, large, and pene-
trating the beholder. He had also been endowed
by nature with a voice for oratory and command —
it being clear, sonorous, and musical in its intona-
tions. His manners were marked by the polite
affability so characteristic of the inhabitants of the
"central flowery kmgdom ;" though a certain air of
self-respect, together with a dash of grave earnest-
ness, did not invite undue familiarity, but rather
served to throw about his otherwise attractive pres-
ence a circle of deference and ceremony.

Presenting, on his introduction to Mr. Roberts, a
detailed account, in writing, of his life and visions,
he was received into good fellowship, and intro-
duced to a number of persons more or less connect-
ed with the mission. The native assistants were
directed to explain to him the Word of God more
thoroughly; and, at the end of a month, two of
them went with him on an excursion to Hwa-hien,
where they spent a few days in preaching the Gos-
pel to his friends and followers.

After his return to Canton, he remained still an-

124 TAI-PIXG-WAXG.

other month sitting at the feet of his instructors in
Christianity, and making rapid progress in master-
ing the ideas of a new and higher civilization.

But, being now as poor in this world's goods as
he was richly endowed with intellect and imagina-
tion, he was desirous of being permanently engaged
at the mission as an assistant, and thereby securing
the means of support, while he continued to prose-
cute the study of Christianity. But this coming to
the knowledge of the other native assistants, they
plotted together to do Siu-tshuen an injury in the
estimation of their employer, for fear lest his supe-
rior talent might prove the cause of their being
supplanted. They, accordingly, instigated the new
disciple to make such an application for support as
could not consistently be granted. Indeed, his
wish to receive baptism being coupled with a prop-
osition to fill the situation of assistant, seems to
have awakened some distrust of his integrity in the
mind of the missionary, who, not fully appreciating
the high qualities of the new convert, and having
no presentiment of the great part he was about to
play in his country's affairs, deferred the period of
his being received into the communion of the church
until after he should have served out a longer proba-
tion. But this putting of him off did not suit either
Siu-tshuen's sense of self-respect, or the reduced

HE VISITS AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY. 125

state of his finances ; so that he had no choice left
but to take his leave of a mission, which could
neither appreciate nor employ him.*

Though utterly destitute of the means of travel- ^
ing, this circumstance did not prevent his resolving
to make another visit to his converts in Kwang-si.
He had not succeeded in gaining admission to the
Christian church any more than he had into " The
Forest of Pencils Society;*' but a strong confidence
in his destiny prevented his spirits from being cast
down, or the energy of his purpose from being
abated.

• Note B, Appendix.

XXI.

HE MAKES ANOTHER JOXJRNEY TO KWANG-SI.

On his second tour to Kwang-si, Siu-tshuen set
off alone. For Hung-Jin had previously returned
to Hwa-hien, _ where, the death of doctor Ki-hi
occurring at the time, he at once exchanged his
bamboo for the pole and flag of the departed Hip-
pocrates, and, by help of a few odd volumes of the
" Golden Mirror of Medical Practice," very soon
came to discourse even more learnedly upon acu-
puncture and decoctions than ever had done his
predecessor.

The equipment of Siu-tshuen for a journey of
more than two hundred miles, consisted of a string
of one hundred cash, given him for his services by
the chief assistant of the missionary, and of an extra
jacket. With this, and faith in heaven, he went
boldly forth. Being too poor, however, to pay for
a passage by boat, he was obliged to rely on his
legs for conveyance ; and, before going far, he fell

ANOTHER JOURNEY TO KWANG-SI. 127

among robbers, who stripped him of all superfluous
clothing, and relieved his pockets of what small
weight of copper cash there was in them. Siu-
tshuen then found himself in a very sorry plight for
continuing his journey, much more for driving out
of the land either idols, or Manchus. Still he had
one jacket left, and, knowing that there would be
at least plenty of water for food as well as for drink
all the way to the mountains, he kept on.

One day, in his extremity, he bethought himself
of the prefect of the district of Shau-king, through
which he was passing, and resolved to write a peti-
tion for assistance, with a statement of who he was,
and where he was going. This brought a reply, in
which the official took refuge in the technicality
that Moi-tszu-siu, the place where Siu-tshuen had
dated his petition, was not in his jurisdiction, but
within that of the prefect of the adjoining district
of Tek-king. But after an interview with the
traveler, he was induced so far to modify his re-
fusal as to advance the small sum of four hundred
cash.

A few days afterwards, when Siu-tshuen was sit-
ting, well nigh disheartened, on the bank of the
Pearl river, a man passed by who said to him : " A
broken chord is mended with a line ; and when the
boat comes there is a way opened.*' This remark

128 TAI-PIN(J-WANG.

of the stranger, struck his mind forcibly as an inti-
mation from heaven that he should go forward ; and
he resolved, accordingly, to take passage on board
the small craft for carrying passengers, then coming
in sight.

Siu-tshuen remained squat on the forward deck
of this vessel for a couple of days, eating only one
meal of rice in twenty-four hours, but reflecting
much on the work to be done by him in Kwang-si.
At length, some of the passengers, noticing his ab-
stemious habits, and struck by his prepossessing
appearance, entered into conversation wnth him.
In reply to their questions, he made known his
religious views and experiences, and, there being
one or two of the class of the literati on board, he
was enabled to gain a favorable hearing for the new
doctrines. In proof of it, a small contribution was
raised in aid of the prophet in distress, who thus
found himself in funds both for defraying the ex-
pense of his passage, and for proceeding still further
on his travels.

The seven days' voyage on the river left but
a small portion of the way to be passed over on
foot. Accordingly, Siu-tshuen soon reached Valley-
home, but learning there that his friend, Yun-san,
was then successfully preaching in Thistle-mount,
he immediately went thither to see him. The meet-

ANOTHER JOURNEY TO KWANG-SI. 129

ing between the two friends was a happy one ; and
Siu-tshuen was delighted to find a congregation of
God-worshipers, already numbering upwards of one
thousand souls.

XXII.

HE ESTABLISHES A FORM OF WORSHIP.

Siu-TSHUEX now made Thistle-mount his head-
quarters ; and under his earnest preaching the num-
ber of the worshipers of God was soon more than
doubled. The new doctrine, also, spread to the
neighboring departments, more especially those of
Liang-chau, Tsin-chau, Yuh-kwei, and Poh-peh,
where many learned men and heads of clans were
added to the different congregations.

Both the strong-minded and the weak-minded
were affected by the prevailing enthusiasm ; and
mention is made of one good woman, by the name
of Yang-yun-kiau, who stated that in the year ting-
yew, or eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, her soul,
during a severe fit of sickness, ascended to heaven,
when she heard an " old man" say to her, ** After ten
years a man will come from the east, and teach the
worship of God ; obey him willingly." This aged
sister was esteemed such an eminent saint and helper

HE ESTABLISHES A FORM OF WORSHIP. 131

of the good work, that, before the arrival of Siu-
tshuen, the proverb had got currency at Thistle-
mount that, " All men should study to be like Fung-
yun-san, and all women like Yang-yun-kiau."

The mode of worship established at Thistle-mount
borrowed most of its forms from Christianity, but
still retained some of the practices of the old idolatry.
The males and females of the congregation were
seated apart from each other. In prayer, all knelt
down facing the side of the house whence came the
light, and remained, with closed eyes, while some
one recited a petition in the name of the whole as-
sembly. God was praised by the singing of a hymn,
in which, however, there was but little melody be-
yond that in the heart. This was followed by an
address exhorting to refrain from idolatry ; to repent
of sins ; to believe in Jesus, the Saviour of the
world ; to escape from the pains of hell, and secure
the everlasting joys of heaveo.

When converts were to be admitted into the con-
gregation, the following were the usual ceremonies :
Two burning lamps and three cups of tea were
placed upon a table ; when a written confession of
sins, together with the names of the neophytes, were
read aloud, and this afterwards offered to God by
being burned in the flame of the lamps. The ques-
tion was then asked of the applicants for admission

-J

7

132 TAI-PING-WANG.

into the congregation, if they promised, "Not to
worship evil spirits, not to practice evil things, but
to keep the heavenly commandments?" This an-
swered in the affirmative, they knelt down, and the
person officiating poured a cup of water over each
one's head, saying, •* Purification from all former
sins, putting off the old, and regeneration." On
rising from their knees, they refreshed themselves
with a cup of tea from the table, and generally
finished the rite of baptism by some further washing
of their hands, faces, and breasts — though many
were not satisfied short of a thorough cleansing of
the person in a canal or river. Different forms of
prayer to be used morning and evening, and at
meals, were distributed among the newly-admitted
to the congregation ; and, with the exception of
the offering up to God of baked meats and other
articles of food, at the principal festivals, there were
left in the public worship few traces of the former
superstitions.

Even Siu-tshuen, himself, had come only gradually
to the total disuse of the religious forms and cere-
monies in which he had been educated. At first, he
had placed the name of God on the wall instead of
that of Confucius, and had continued, for a time, the
use of burnt paper and incense-sticks ; and when,
afterwards, he removed the tablet, as too much sa-

HE ESTABLISHES A FORM OF WORSHIP. 133

voring of idolatry, his mother-in-law remarked that
it was a pity to do so, because, since the name of
God had been set up, they had had good luck, and
had added another field to their plantation. He
was, therefore, tolerant of those comparatively harm-
less customs of idolatry, which were, for a time,
kept up by the weak in faith ; and contented him-
self with bringing his followers, as he had been
brought himself, gradually to comprehend the more
spiritual nature of the new religion.

XXIII.

HE DESTROYS THE IMAGE OF KAX-WAXO-YE.

As the members of the sect went on constantly
increasing, its leader at length felt strong enough to
make an attack on some of the principal idols of the
temples in the vicinity of Thistle-mount.

About that time, it was reported to him that, in
the department of Siang-chau, there was a very
famous idol, by the name of Kan-wang-ye. During
his life, this Kan had been an inhabitant of the de-
partment, and had been extremely addicted to the
arts of geomancy. When, then, it w^as told him one
day by a magician, that a " bloody burial" would be
followed by great prosperity in his family, he imme-
diately went home, and killing his own mother,
caused her to be buried in the spot marked out by
the compasses. The promised prosperity actually
followed ; and, after a life spent in dissipation, the
profligate was worshiped as a demon.

Great was the dread which fell upon all the

HE DESTROYS THE IMAGE OF KAN-WANG-YE. 135

people before the image of this Kan-wang-ye ; so
that when once a young lad, possessed by its spirit,
stopped the sedan-chair of a district magistrate, and
demanded, in the name of the idol, a " dragon robe,"
the mandarin dared not refuse it. The wardens
were even afraid to sleep in the temple ; and when-
ever they entered it to light the lamps and burn
incense, they beat the gong to prevent Kan-wang-
ye from appearing to them. Whoever said a word
against him was sure to be instantaneously seized
with bowel-complaint, the course of which could be
stayed only by acknowledging the power of his god-
ship— at least, such was the popular belief.

But when Siu-tshuen heard of this delusion, his
anger was aroused, and he said, *' This is the kind
of demons I used to exterminate when my soul was
wandering in heaven." Then, taking with him
Yun-san, Wang-ngi, and a few others, he set off for
the temple of Kan-wang-ye.

At the end of the second day they reached it.
On approaching the place, they beheld a number of
small temples, scattered over a hillside, with one
principal building near the summit. Up to this
wound an avenue shaded by pines, and so arranged
as to cross, several times, by ornamental bridges, a
small stream, which went singing along its way down
from the upper springs. The lotus-lily reposed on

136 TAI-PING-WANG.

a number of artificial pools, on either side ; various
plants were trained along the paths in such profu-
sion, that one almost walked on flowers ; and clus-
ters of tropical brushwood, set about in the distance,
breathed a soft, aromatic breath over the whole
region. \

As the smaller temples were inhabited, each, by
one or two priests, these were sitting in the cool of
the day under their fig-trees, with none to molest or
make afraid, unless it were Kan-wang-ye himself.
Indeed, this^cM^ nitiday being a kind of banyan, fur-
nishes, with its dark green leaves and wide-spreading
branches, a shade grateful to anchorites, and gave to
the temples of this hillside quite as much the look
of bowers of pleasure as of retreats of meditation.
Similar, too, was the effect of the chime of delicate
bells of metal, which, suspended from all the project-
ing points of the buildings, sent a chorus of pleasing
melodies off to the opposite hills, on the wings of
every zephyr that chanced to float through the sacred
precincts.

Siu-tshuen stopped a moment to contemplate the
beauty of the scene ; then, silently praying to God,
advanced into the terrible presence of Kan-wang-ye.
This was found to be a huge wooden deformity,
about ten or twelve feet high, with gilded head and
feet. But not fearing his gilt godship, and having

HE DESTROYS THE IMAGE OF KAN-WANG-YE. 137

bound, hand and foot, the few priests in attendance,
Siu-tshuen took a stick, and smote him in the face ;
at the same time charging him with the commission
of the ten sins following : *♦ First sin, to kill his
mother ; second, to despise God ; third, to frighten
the hearts of the sons and daughters of God ; fourth,
to covet the food of the children of God ; fifth, to
force his sister to make the acquaintance of a profli-
gate ; sixth, to disseminate obscene songs between
males and females ; seventh, arrogantly to exalt him-
self; eighth, to extort money from the people ;
ninth, to demand a dragon-robe from the mandarin ;
tenth, to continue his mischief as a demon."

Thereupon, Siu-tshuen and his friends threw down
the image, broke it in pieces, rent its robes, and de-
stroyed the sacrificial vessels of the temple. This
task of holy indignation successfully accomplished,
the party withdrew ; and, escaping pursuit, arrived
safely at Thistle-mount.

XXIV.

HE SUFFERS PERSECUTION AND GOES HOME.

This daring feat was immediately noised abroad
through the district, and a large reward was offered
for the apprehension of its perpetrators, but it was
afterwards withdrawn, when the demon, speaking
by the mouth of a small boy, of whom he had taken
possession, said : " The destroyers of idols are sincere
men ; you are not able to hurt them ; be content
with repairing ray image."

The reputation of Siu-tshuen was greatly in-
creased by this act ; and all men stood in awe of
him. To commemorate it, he published the follow-
ing address to the idol :

" I rebuke tbe demon Kan-wang by my pencil's quick decree,
He deserves annihilation, and must no more spar'd be.
Mother-slayer, law-transgressor, wilt thou also God deceive ?
As thou didst with many people, make them in thy power

believe,
Curs'd to hell and struck by lightning, burn and vanish into

smoke.
With thy horrid wooden body, dost thou want a dragon

cloak?"

HE SUFFERS PERSECUTION AND GOES HOME. 139

Nor was his fame scarcely less augmented by a
prophecy, published at that time, respecting another
celebrated shrine, called, " The temple of the six
caverns." This sacred establishment consisted of
several small, but beautiful stalactite caves in the
mountains, the entrances to which were ornamented
with great care by means of various hanging plants,
and festoons of flowers, as well as by the usual
trees, gardens, and buildings. But as its groves
and caverns had been prostituted to forbidden plea-
sures, Siu-tshuen wrote a satire upon it, wherein
he reproved the loose morals of the people, and
declared that the time would speedily arrive, when
the images of the temple of the six caverns would
be destroyed, as had been that of Kan-wang-ye.
And lo ! in a few weeks after, an army of white
ants, so destructive in that country, invading the
temple of the six caverns, devoured its entire wood-
work, and ate up all the idols.

But the brethren of the congregation, being em-
boldened to proceed to great lengths in the demoli-
tion of images, the wrath of the idolaters was vio-
lently aroused against them. One Wang, a wealthy
man of letters, lodged a complaint in the office of
the magistrate of Phing-nan, charging that, under
pretext of worshiping God, the followers of Siu-
tshuen were desecrating temples, and destroying

140 TAI-PING-WANG.

images. Yun-san, and his assistant Lu-liuh, having
committed some overt acts in the district, were spe-
cially proceeded against ; and, as the magistrate
was well plied with bribes by Wang, they were
committed to prison.

This occurrence filled the heart of Siu-tshuen
with grief ; and he asked, " AVhat can be the design
of God in making us to suffer persecution ?" He
did not know that the blood of martyrs is the seed
of the church. But after much sorrowful consider-
ation of the matter, he determined to apply for
relief directly to the governor of the two Kwang
provinces, Kiying, who had obtained permission
from the emperor for natives, as well as foreigners,
to profess Christianity; and, for this purpose, he set
off for Canton. Before going, however, he gave
expression to his mingled feelings of hope and sad-
ness in the following ode :

" When shall I meet again with faithful brethren,
And preach the word along the ocean's etrand ?
When find again true sympathy aud virtue,
And joyful tones mingle without restraint ?
Alas ! for noble courage and for honest hearts,
With whom I would restore to peace the universe.
Alas ! from all the quarters of the earth
What men shall stand by me ?
The dragon clouds and tiger winds assemble ;
When shall the hour of congregation come ?
The heavenly law is not to blame.

HE SUFFERS PERSECUTION AND GOES HOME. 141

Has God no more compassion ?
Oh, for one mind from first to last !
What day shall we triumphantly ascend V

Meanwhile, the two breakers of images lay in
prison. It was in vain that the brethren collected
several hundred strings of cash for their liberation ;
for Wang had a still longer purse than they. It was
to still less purpose that they laid before the man-
darin a defense of their doctrines, together with a
copy of the ten commandments derived from the
Old Testament ; for his worship was perfectly indif-
ferent to all matters pertaining to the gods ; and
believing the different religious sects to be substan-
tially the same, he constantly repeated the current
saying of, *' Sing-song, all the same pigeon."

But, at length, when Yun-san had opened upon
him a battery of rhymes, showing in a succession of
petitions, nicely worded and measured, first, the
malignancy of his accuser, second, his own inno-
cence, third, the plain duty of all men to worship
God, the judge began to think he had better get
rid of the prisoner as soon as possible ; and, the
indignation of Wang and his purse being both alike
exhausted, an order was issued for the release of
the God-worshipers. '"^

Poor Lu-liuh had been already relieved of his '^
chains by death ; but Yun-san was set at liberty,

142 TAI-PING-WANO.

with the charge, that he should forthwith return to
the place of his birth. This he was to do under the
escort of two policemen ; but no sooner were they
on the road, than he made a set-to upon his attend-
ants with Christian arguments ; converted them ;
and bore them off as trophies to Thistle-mount.
Thereupon, he publicly returned thanks to God ;
and his followers, after having offered up a sacrifice
of horses and oxen, made a great feast on them.

Siu-tshuen, therefore, might well have spared
himself the pains of going to Canton, to see the
governor ; and the more so, as, on arriving there, he
found that his Excellency had just left for Peking.
But he had the opportunity of visiting his family in
Hwa-hien, where he soon learned the news of the
release of Yun-san, and where, after a time, he was
made happy by meeting with him.

But though he recovered his friend, Siu-tshuen
had experienced the loss of his father. This venerable
man had died in his son's absence at the age of sev-
enty-three. He had not lived to see his little Phuh
reach the steps of the imperial throne, but he had
beheld him grown up to be a schoolmaster, and, at
length, the founder of a new religion. ' The old man,
therefore, closed his eyes in peace, having had a
glimpse of his favorite son's greatness, as Moses, dy-
ing, beheld the promised land from afar. He also

HE SUFFERS PERSECUTION AND GOES HOME. 143

departed firm in the new faith, though it had been
learned in his old age ; and, calling his children and
his grandchildren around his bed, said : " I am now
ascending to heaven ; after my decease you must
not call any Buddhist priest, nor perform any heathen
ceremonies, but merely worship God, and pray to
him."

Siu-tshuen mourned sincerely for his father ; and
when his friends, pointing to his hair and beard,
which had been allowed for some time to grow long,
said he must have foreseen the death which had
called him to mourning, he did not undeceive them.
But the fact was that he had secretly resolved no
longer to shave his head, as for the space of two
hundred years his countrymen had been compelled
to do. in token of submission to their conquerors,
the Tartars*

XXV.

HE PREACHES IN THE FIELDS.

Siu-TSHUEN remained at home nearly a year,
mourning for his father, and teaching the Christian
doctrines, as he had opportunity. Earlier in life,
his conversation had been much admired by his as-
sociates for the liveliness of its wit; now, it be-
came remarked for the earnestness with which it
exhorted to virtue, and the severity with which it
reproved vice. He spent much time in going from
house to house, to talk with his friends on the sub-
ject of religion, always walking with measured, de-
corous pace, and always sitting, it was observed,
very erect in his chair, never leaning on one side, or
backwards, his feet never crossed, and his hands
resting on his knees. In this posture he would
remain without change or fatigue, by the hour
together. Many listeners, meanwhile, would gather
around, and hang on his words ; for he spake like a
man inspired of God, and having authority.

HE PREACHES IN THE FIELDS. 145

The profligate, therefore, fled from his presence ;
and some dared not even remain in the same village
with him. One Mou, who had been appointed in-
spector of grounds by the different villages, but who
was notorious for his oppression of the poor, was
actually deposed by him. For, accusations having
been brought against this man of gross misconduct,
and these having been confirmed by uniform testi-
mony, Siu-tshuen did not hesitate to sound the gong
for calling the heads of families together, and then
summon Mou to give an account of himself in their
presence. This the guilty inspector did, making
humble confession, and asking forgiveness. Where-
upon, the villagers, moved to pity, would have
continued him in office, but Siu-tshuen replied,
"Yesterday I yielded to the wishes of men; but
to-day, I follow the rule of Heaven." Accord-
ingly, the evil-doer was deposed, and one Kiang-a-si
was appointed in his stead. And so great was the
moral ascendancy of this self-constituted judge of
wrong-doing, that Mou was obliged to submit to his
sentence, and send the usual presents of honor to
the man by whom he had been ignominiously driven
from office. J

Siu-tshuen even went further in his assumption "^
of authority for the suppression of vice ; and caused
to be distributed among the heads of families in his

146 TAI-PING-WANa.

clan five wooden rods for the chastisement of wick-
edness, each one having inscribed on it the particular
crime it was to be used for punishing. The inscrip-
tions were these :

" 1. Beat the adulterers.

2. Beat the female seducers.

3. Beat the disobedient to parents.

4. Beat thieves, robbers, and gamblers.

5. Beat all vagabonds plotting evil.-'

Such proceedings as these plainly show that Siu-
tshuen was beginning gradually to carry out into
acts the conviction, that he had been commissioned
by God to destroy the power of wickedness and
idolatry in the world, and was fast preparing him-
self to take the lead not only of a militant sect, but
of an armed insurrection. He felt strong in the
goodness of his cause, and more and more confident
of the support of Heaven.

Indeed, his whole soul was now absorbed in the
propagation of the new faith, so that he could no
longer submit to the petty care and drudgery of
school-keeping. The friends of the cause of God
were his friends, and none others. They who wor-
shiped idols were pronounced as senseless as the
idols themselves, and were included in the party
of the demons whom he had been authorized to
exterminate. He earnestly called upon them to re-

HE PREACHES IN THE FIELDS. 147

pent of their sins, and flee from the wrath to come ;
while the believers in God and in Jesus were en-
couraged not only to expect happiness in this world,
but also to look forward to a paradise of delights
beyond the grave. Sometimes these vievw were
urged with great gentleness and affection ; and, at
others, with vehement indignation of wrong, and
shame at the degradation of the people. The fol-
lowing were among his favorite sayings :

" Brethren, be of good cheer, God has the rule of all ;
With faithfal hearts, and deeds in proof, you rise to heaven's hall."

" Those who live in God, are the sons and daughters of God ;
Whencesoever they come, they come from heaven ;
Wheresoever they go, they go to heaven."

" Those who worship demons are the slaves of demons :
At their birth, by the devil led astray;
At their death, by him carried away."

« Too much patience and humility do not suit our present times ;
Therewith it would be impossible to manage this perverted genera-
tion."

Excursions to the neighboring villages were now
frequently made by Siu-tshuen ; and also to the
hill-country, where, when a young man, he had
spent many days of profitable meditation. Now, he
took delight in calling together the young lads who
followed their herds and flocks in these pastures,
and telling them of the true God, and of his Son,

148 TAI -PING- WANG.

who had laid down his life for their salvation.
Many of his friends and followers, also, came out to
the hills to take counsel together, and listen to the
field sermons of their prophet. Greatly cheered ia
heart by these meetings, Siu-tshuen then composed
the following ode :

"Heavenly Father, high aod supreme, the God of all nationa,
Who sudtains the whole bumaa race with iDflnite bounty ;
In six days thou createdst the world with mountains and waters ;
Spcndest thy gifts upon men to enjoy in brotherly union.
Father, thou art near related to us ; thou cxpellest the demons ;
Gavest thy holy commands to instruct an ignorant people.
After thou Jesus hadst sent to give his life as a ransom.
Thou didst command Siu-tshuen to proclaim the truth of this
doctrine."

XXVI.

HE GIRDS ON ^S SWORD, AND RETURNS TO KWANG-SI.

The fullness of times was now come; and contribu-
tions of money having been sent in by his friends in
Clear-fur, Siu-tshuen girded on the ** demon-exter-
minating sword" beneath his tunic, and set off on
his last journey to the province of Kwang-si.

It was high time for the master to arrive ; for the
house of the God-worshipers was beginning to be
rent by dissensions, and dishonored by excesses.
Indeed, Siu-tshuen, on his arrival, found that more
than one of the five wooden rods recently in-
troduced in Hwa-hien, might, with propriety, be
brought into play on the backs of some of the faith-
ful. In place of the former odors of incense-sticks,
the air of Thistle-mount was now scented with
the fumes of samshu, tobacco, and opium. Siu-
tshuen, therefore, began at once with fulminating
his decrees against the abuse of these very danger-

150 TAI-5ING-WAN<i.

_^U8 gifts of nature. Upon the smoking of opium,
he made the following stanza.

" The opium pipe is like a gun, wherewith you wound yourself.
How many persons are stretched by it dying upon their pillows ?"

Rice wine he denounced the use of, except in
moderation ; and though he had himself always
been able to stand a pretty stiff glass of it, he now
reduced his daily allowance to three cups of the
smallest capacity. The excessive use of tobacco
also was spoken against, as a sin against Heaven.

^ But there were excesses to be corrected in religi-
ous fervor, no less than in the indulgence of cups
and pipes. A number of the new saints had con-
tracted the habit of falling into ecstasies. It often
happened during the offering of public prayer, that
some of the brethren and sisters were seized with
fits, so that they fell to the ground, and their bodies
were covered with perspiration. And when the fit
was strong upon them, they would utter strange
words of prophecy or exhortation, frequently speak-
ing in enigmas and couplets. Some, also, had very

\^^ singular visions.

r- Among these subjects of ecstasy, two of the
brethren attracted special attention by the very ex-
traordinary nature of their gifts. They were Yang-
Siu-tsing and Siau-Chau-kwei. Siau was the

HE GIRDS ON HIS SWORD, ETC. Idl

gentler of the two spirits, and, when moved irresist-
ibly so to do, exhorted in the name of Jesus. But
Tang, whose vanity was much inflated by his union
with the congregation, pretended to deliver the
commands of God, the Father. Being, besides,
naturally clever with his tongue, he exhorted under
the ecstatic influence with such prodigality of
breath, that he lost the use of his voice for a couple
of months. This damaged his repute somewhat ;
but on his recovery, he delivered the command-
ments of God with greater fluency than ever, and
foretold future events. Several sick members
of the congregation having been unexpectedly re-
stored to health, Yang even got the credit of having
driven out the evil spirits ; and finally so far won
the confidence of the credulous, that he ventured to
offer to redeem any patient from his infirmity, by
suffering the pains of the disease in his own person.

Such perversion of doctrines and gifts called for
the active interference of Siu-tshuen, who im-
mediately rebuked the false spirits, and claimed for
himself and his special favorites the exclusive privi-
lege of communicating with heaven.

It was not long before he had occasion to avail
himself of this monopoly of prophecy. Foreseeing
that the time for action was drawing nigh, and
believing that the year of eighteen hundred and

162 TAI-PING-WANG.

fifty would not pass without the occurrence of
serious events in the mountains, he determined to
send for his family in Hwa-hien. So strong, indeed,
was this conviction in his mind, that he could but
regard it as an intimation from heaven ; and gave
out, accordingly, that he had been warned of God
in the following revelation : ** In the thirtieth year
of Tau-kwang (1850), will I send down calamities;
those of you who remain steadfast in faith shall be
saved, but the unbelievers shall be visited by pesti-
lence. After the eighth month, fields will be left
uncultivated, and houses without inhabitants ;
therefore, call thou thy own family and relatives
hither."

Siu-tshuen did as he was bidden ; and his mother-
in-law, his wife and children, and his brothers, with
their families, all obeying the call, arrived safely
with their property at Thistle-mount.

r In the company was also a newly-born son of the
prophet, the sight of whom filled the paternal heart

, with joy greater than could be expressed. And, to
add to the father's delight, it was told to him that
the birth of this heir of prophecy had not been unat-
tended with prodigies and signs of sympathy on the
part of nature. When, on the ninth day of the
tenth month of the year eighteen hundred and forty-
nine, at the rising of the sun, the male child was

HE GIRDS ON HIS SWORD, ETC. 153

born, a large flock of birds, some as large as ravens,
and some as small as magpies, hovered about the
trees in the vicinity of the house for a month or
more ; whereat, the people said that the fowls of
the air had come to do homage to the new-born king
and prophet.

Moreover, Siu-tshuen's own prophecy came speedi-^
ly to pass. In the year eighteen hundred and fifty,
died the Emperor Tau-kwang ; several districts in
Kwang-si were visited with pestilential diseases ;
there was, in many localities, a scarcity of food ; and
wars and rumors of wars between the mountainous
tribes, as well as between bands of banditti and the
soldiers of the government, prevailed at the com-
mencement of this year even more than in the one
which had preceded it.

Therefore, the God-worshipers, remembering the
words of their chief, revered him as the confidant
of Heaven ; and many souls were added to the con-
gregation.
7*

XXVII.

HE FORETELLS THE INSURRECTION.

This year was, indeed, destined to mark an era in
Chinese annals, and to introduce a series of events
which should draw the attention of both government
and people to the mountains of Kwang-si.

This range occupies the northern and northwest-
ern parts of the province, separating it from that of
Kwei-chau, and is inhabited mostly by aboriginal
tribes, who have never been subdued by the Manchus.
By the vulgar, these refractory mountaineers are de-
scribed as " wolf-men,'* *' dog-men," and " rats of
the mountains;" and are said to have tails like mon-
keys, and to cauterize the feet of their children in
order to save the expense of shoes. In point of fact,
they are a semi-civilized race, called Puntis, who so
prize the freedom of their mountains that the impe-
rial arms have never succeeded in wrestina: it from
them ; but who, nevertheless, maintain a kind of
truce with their neighbors of the lowlands, buying

HE FORETELLS THE INSURRECTION. 166

manufactures, and selling, in return, a great variety
of beautiful woods, the growth of their mountains,
and large quantities of cassia, more aromatic than
that of Ceylon. They live in huts of one story,
raised on piles, and stable their domestic animals
beneath ; go clad in tunic and breeches, frequently
without shoes ; and, disdaining the tonsure of the
Tartars, wear their long hair fastened on the top of
their heads by a bodkin.

But while these independent tribes have always
succeeded in driving back from their strong-holds the
invading armies of the government, they have not
prevented the more peaceful encroachments of the
squatter clans, who, under the name of Hakkas, now ^
divide with them the possession of a certain number
of their valleys. Many of these settlers were origin-
ally robbers and outlaws, who, to escape the pur-
suit of the officers of justice, fled to the fastnesses
of the mountains, and who, keeping up their preda-
tory habits, were afterwards involved in frequent
petty wars with the imperial soldiery, as well as
with their neighbors, the Puntis.

In the year eighteen hundred and forty-nine there
had broken out such a contest between these two
classes of mountaineers, in the Kwei district ; and
the Puntis proving victorious, many of the defeated
Hakkai fled for refuge to the neighboring God-wor-

166 TAI-PING-WANG.

shipers of Thistle-mount, who likewise were set-
tlers by origin, though of a better character than the
others. Being in no condition to make their own
terms, these refugees readily consented to be con-
verted, in return for protection, and the necessary
supplies to keep them from starvation. But while
they swelled the numbers of the congregation, they
also exposed it to the ill-will of the Puntis. In fact,
some petty causes of quarrel soon sprang up, though
the consequences were not immediately serious, in-
asmuch as the combined forces of the Hakkas and
the God-worshipers were too strong for the other
party.

Meanwhile, the local magistrates, intermeddling,
manifested a disposition to encourage the Puntis to
come to blows with their enemies. At the same
time, they recommenced their persecution of the
image-breakers ; and Wang, the graduate, resuming
the fierceness of his fanaticism, caused Wang-ugi to
be again thrown into prison, where he died. The
search for robbers, likewise, who had been driven
into the mountains by the soldiery, was made the
pretext for no little annoyance and injury to the
different branches of the congregation.

Thus, what Siu-tshuen had anticipated was about
to come to pass. A collision between his followers
and the magistrates could not be far off; and, with

HE FORETELLS THE INSURRECTION. 157

this conviction weighing upon his mind, he composed
the following ode :

" When, in the present time, disturbances abound,
And bands of robbers are, like gathering vapors, found,
We know that Heaven means to raise a valiant hand
To rescue the oppressed, and save our native land.
China was once subdued, but it shall no more fall ;
God ought to be adored, and ultimately will be.
The founder of the Ming in song disclosed his mind ;
The Emperor of Han drank to the furious wind.
From olden times, all deeds by energy were done ;
Dark vapors disappear on rising of the sun."

XXVIII.

HE UNFURLS THE STANDARD OF REVOLT.

While Siu-tshuen, accompanied by Yun-San, was
going the rounds of the villages wherein resided his
disciples, exhorting them to make sale of their
property, so far as they could, and hold themselves
in readiness to assemble at his call in Thistle-mount,
both he and his companion came near being arrested
by the mandarins. These had resolved to proceed
against the two preachers as the head of a secret
society, hostile to the government ; but the fact
coming to the ears of Yang-Siu-tshin, he sent a
party of friends to apprise the chief of his danger,

^ and escort him back to Thistle-mount.

r No sooner had the latter returned than he sent
word to all his followers to gather around him ; for
he knew the time of simple preaching had gone by,
and that had arrived for inculcating his doctrines at
the head of an armed force. The persecutions ex-
perienced, and threatened by the mandarins, having

HE UNFURLS THE STANDARD OF REVOLT. 159

the Puntis as aiders, if not as allies, was his justifi-
cation in taking this step. He saw that he must
either submit to see the congregation scattered, or
take the sword, and commence a holy war against
the idolaters. This was what he had long secretly
purposed to do ; so that he was not taken by surprise
by the movement of the mandarins, but was ready
for action. ;

The God-worshipers obeyed the vorce of their '^
prophet. They immediately assembled at Thistle-
mount, bringing with them their cattle, their pro-
visions, their money, and every kind of movable
property, and, for arms, such agricultural imple-
ments, and other weapons, as they could lay their
bands on. Among those who came at the call, were
a number of graduates, and heads of clans, one of
whom, by the name of Wei-ching, brought in no
less than a thousand retainers. All gave in their
individual property to the public treasury, to be used
for the daily maintenance of the members of the
congregation, each sharing alike. -^

When a sufficient force had been collected to- "^
gether, Siu-tshuen gave orders for it to move on to
the nearest market-town, which was that inhabited
by Wang, the persecutor, and where, no opposition
being made, the immediate wants of the poor
Hakkas, who, in large numbers, had joined the

160 TAI-PING-WANG.

congregation, were supplied out of the well-filled
clothing and provision-shops.

Siu-tshuen's first care now was to organize the
motley multitude which his orders had brought
together, and which consisted of both rich and poor,
young and old, male and female ; of Hakkas, some
of whom had not been much better than outlaws ;
and of God-worshipers, most of whom were sincere
converts to the new faith, and fanatically opposed
to the worship of idols ; in all, about seven thousand
souls.

To this end, he directed that the two sexes
should have no intercourse with each other, but be
kept under the separate control of officers, male and
female. The principal places of trust he assigned
to those of his associates, who had exhibited the
most talent, and who had attained the greatest in-
fluence in the congregation — especially Fun-Yun-
San, Yang-Siu-tshin, and Siau-chau-kwei. A com-
plete military organization was established ; strict
discipline was enjoined ; public prayers were held
morning and evening ; and exhortations to faith and
good behavior were daily delivered by the chiefs,
and others thereto appointed.*

In perfecting and carrying out these indispensable

• Note C, Appendix.

HE UNFURLS THE STANDARD OF REVOLT. 161

arrangements, several months were spent ; the body
of the forces moving from one market- town to
another in the hill country, as might be most con-
venient for the obtaining of supplies, and no attack
being made upon them by the few troops got to-
gether for that purpose by the mandarins.

XXIX.

HE IS OPPOSED BY TUE GENERALS OF HIEN-FUNG.

The thirty years of experience of the emperor
Tau-kwang in the conduct of affairs was now very
inoportunely exchanged for the incapacity of the
youthful Hien-fung, who, on coming to the throne
of the celestials, found that, instead of giving him-
self up to the enjoyment of his imperial paradise
in Peking, he had to turn his attention to an obstinate
rebellion in the province of Kwang-si.

Unfortunately, he had in Siu, the viceroy of the
two Kwang provinces, a servant to guard the in-
terests, and execute the purposes of the throne,
whose irresolution was surpassed only by his cowar-
dice. Accordingly, when this worthy heard of the
occupation of the market-towns by the revolters,
and especially when he learned that the Puntis
had finally rallied to their side in preference
to that of their old enemies, the magistrates, he lost
no time, not in dispatching troops into the disaffect-

HE IS OPPOSED BY HlEN-FUNG. 168

ed districts, but in sending in to the government a
humble petition, soliciting the honor of being allow-
ed to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of the lately
deceased emperor. This pious request not being
granted, however, Siu was obliged to face the re-
bellion. . J

This soon became really alarming ; for Siu-tshuen,
finding his standards thronged by the hardy braves
of the mountains, moved from the districts of Kwei, ^
Yung-fuh, and Yung-an, which he had been occupy-
ing ; and laying a number of towns and villages on
his route under contribution, took possession of the
district cities of Wu-siuen, and Kwei-ping, on the
Pearl river. This position was a very important
one ; for it enabled him to control the trade of the
interior of the province with the city of Canton,
and lay a tax on all merchandise passing to and
from that port. J

The gradual, and almost entirely unopposed ad-
vance of the insurgents from the mountains to the
southern parts of the province, and even to the
frontiers of Kwang-tung, greatly terrified the good
people of Canton. Accordingly, the authorities
fearing to be taken by surprise, set diligently about
mustering and drilling soldiers, making new and
stronger gateways, establishing night patrols, and
covering their house-tops with buckets of water. A

164 T AI-PING-WANG.

body of about five thousand men was got ready to
take the field ; and a considerable number of boats
were put in readiness, though the crews showed no
little reluctance towards moving westward.

Meanwhile, Siu, the viceroy, and Yeh, governor
of the province of Kwang-tung, who was an assist-
ant in every way worthy of his principal, exhibited
great activity in drawing up, and forwarding to
Peking, a statement of what was shortly to be done.
" They were," the government was informed, " on
no account to adhere to any preconceived notions,
which might induce them to shun danger, or to be
over-sparing of expense ; nor were they to be misled
by idle rumors ; nor to color, be it ever so little, the
facts which they might witness, and so leave uneradi-
cated the root of future evil." At the same time,
an "affectionate proclamation" was issued by these
two officials to ** the thieves, robbers, and riffraff
generally," of Kwang-si, inviting them " to wash
their hearts, and flay their faces, to show respectful
obedience to the laws, and pursue their avocations
in peace."

When, after these preliminary flourishes of words,
governor Yeh finally took up his line of march for
the seat of insurrection, he displayed much pru-
dence in not approaching too near the enemy.
Remaining himself with the main body of his troops

HE IS OPPOSED BY HIEN-FUNG. 165

in a place of safety, he preferred to scour the
country, by sending out his lieutenants with small
detachments. But this course just suited the tac-
tics of the insurgents, which were invariably of one
and the same character. Whenever the enemy ad-
vanced, they pretended to take flight ; but it was
only to allure the former into ambuscades, where
they were pitilessly slaughtered. This manoeuvre
always succeeded against a foe with whom experi-
ence went for nothing ; and it was by a feint of this
sort that a large body of Yeh's troops was cut to
pieces in a defile between Tsing-yuen and Ting-teh.
The only success, in fact, that the imperial general
had to boast of during the campaign was a small
affair in the Black Stone country, where he repre-
sented the insurgents to have been driven back
through the hills with loss of guns and prisoners,
and " with thundering clamor."

Thereupon the emperor, seeing that " the thieves"
were not straightway exterminated according to his
orders, resolved to adopt additional measures for
accomplishing his purpose. A member of the im-
penal family, together with a suite of high officers
of state, was sent to offer prayers in the temples,
and to sacrifice to the " red-coated cannon," and
not to rely entirely upon the gods for aid. His
majesty further determined to send a special com-

166 TAI-PING-WANG.

missioner to Kwang-si to strengthen the hands of
his servants, Siu and Yeh.

The person selected for this important trust was
no less a magnate than Lin, the famous mandarin
who had destroyed the twenty thousand chests of
opium, and brought on the war with England.
This veteran was then living in retirement in the
charming environs of Su-chau, where he was spend-
ing the last of his days in doting over such few
flowers of pleasure as his trembling hands could
pluck from the brink of his grave.

But on receiving the commands of his young
master, he gathered his remaining strength together,
and set off for the seat of hostilities. Arrived there,
he, also, distinguished himself by writing proclama-
tions to the insurgents, and reports to the govern-
ment at Peking ; and to such a degree as to win the
title of " Guardian of the heir apparent," and to
receive the most gracious permission of his Majesty
to wear a single-eyed peacock's feather in his cap.
But, unfortunately, the impotency of age would
allow him to do no more. He promised to ** sweep
the frontiers of their malaria'' — and then died. Yet,
so impressed was the monarch with the importance
of these services rendered, that he not only confer-
red upon him the posthumous honor of the title of
" Great tutor of the heir apparent," but ordered that

HE IS OPPOSED BY HIEN-FUNG. 167

all degradations from rank, which had been incurred
in the course of his official life, should be canceled,
and such further distinctions be bestowed on him
" as by statute he was entitled to."

As he had not fought the insurgents, so they had
not fought him ; but they made to his proclamation
a reply, which constituted the first political act of
their leader, and which plainly set forth the grounds
on which they relied for justification in having
taken up arms against the Tartars. It was as fol-
lows:

»* Thfi Manchus, who, for two centuries, have been
the hereditary occupants of the throne of China, were
originally members of a small foreign tribe. With
the aid of a powerful army, they took possession "Df
our treasure, our lands, and the government of our
country, proving that superior strength is all that is
required for the usurpation of an empire. There is,
therefore, no difference between us, who levy con-
tributions on the villages we have taken, and the
officials sent from Peking to collect the taxes.
Taking and keeping are both fair alike. Why, then,
without any motive, are troops marched against us?
This appears to us very unjust. How! have the
Manchus, who are foreigners, a right to collect the
revenues of eighteen provinces, and to appoint the
officers who oppress the people ; while we, who are

168 TAI-PING-WANG.

Chinese, are forbidden to take a little money from
the public stock? Universal sovereignty does not
belong to any individual to the exclusion of all the
rest ; and no one ever saw a dynasty which could
count a hundred generations of emperors. Posses-
sion— and possession only — gives a right to govern."
Thus, the words of the insurgents corresponded
with their deeds. Both were serious ; they aimed
at empire ; and the first year of the reign of
Hien-fung went down with a cloud on the horizon,
which, increasing from the size of a man's hand,
soon gathered sufficient blackness to darken the
whole heavens.

XXX.

HE CLAIMS TO BE INSPIRED AND AIDED BY HEAVEN.

In the early part of the year eighteen hundred
and fifty-one, a large number of the southern depart-
ments of the province of Kwang-si being in the pos-
session of the insurgents, and Sin-chau-fu being their
headquarters, Siu-tshuen assumed the name of Tien-
teh, or Celestial Virtue.

At the same time, he surrounded himself with
more forms and ceremonies, as befitting his position
at the head of a large and victorious body of follow-
ers. He also supplied himself with a stud of man-
darins* horses ; added an extra barber to his estab-
lishment, to clean his ears and tickle his eye-lids;
doubled hirf daily allowance of rice-wine ; and, in
accordance with the Chinese notion, that a man is
entitled to take as many wives as he can support,
set up a small harem.

His headquarters being thronged not only by his

own superior officers, but also by chieftains of the
8

170 TAI-P1\G-WANG.

Miautsz', and by captains of numerous bands of vo-
lunteers, who joined, from time to time, the main
body of the insurgents, assumed the appearance of a
princely court, and was gay with red buttons and
blue, with sedan-chairs and caparisoned horses, with
banners of all colors, and of strange devices. His
warriors were both male and female, scarcely a
month passing, in the latter half of the first cam-
paign, that some valiant chief, in petticoats, did not
come, with a retinue of several hundred Amazons, to
offer their hearts to be converted, and their arms to
be placed at the service of the God-worshipers.

The camp was full of all sorts of arms, match-
locks, spears, bows and arrows, wall- pieces, and
small artillery. Every man had his lantern. The
swords, indeed, were, for the most part, rusty ; the
few cannon were honey-combed ; the powder was
not always of the strongest ; and the rockets could
be relied upon only to make a noise.

But noise, and a show of fight were generally all
that w^as necessary to put to flight the arrant cow-
ards who trembled at the sight of the hair-pins of
the Miautsz' as if they had been the horns of demons,
and one-half of whom believed that these sons of the
mountains pursued them with cauterized feet, and
tails in their breeches. Much as ever was it that
they stood their ground long enough to discharge

INSPIRED AND AIDED BY HEAVEN. 171

their fire-arms once at the distant enemy ; but, after
that, all order was invariably at an end ; every man
did as he liked, and, at last, the greater part gene-
rally threw away their military jackets, and were
never heard of afterwards. Receiving not more than
five pence and a pittance of rice a day, they had
not the stomach to contend with men whose camp
was full of pigs and oxen, if not of sam-shu and to-
bacco. Often, they would stand out on the eve of
battle for the p^y which was in arrears ; and when
they had been bribed to fight by money actually put
into pocket, they not unfrequently made up their
minds that it was a capital time to desert.

Nor Were such soldiers unworthily led. When
General Ke-shu was sent by the emperor to re-take
Tinghae, he was directed to " send the heads of the
rebellious barbarians to Peking in baskets." But
instead of the heads, Ke-shu sent back a humble
memorial, stating that he had not been able to '* de-
stroy and wipe clean away" the rebels, and request-
ing to be duly punished therefor. Of such memo-
rials there were, during the war, great numbers for-
warded to Peking ; and the prayer of the supplicant
being generally granted, there would have been al-
most as many officers ** banished beyond the wall"
as there were at service within it, had not the royal
order dismissing the petitioners from office almost

172 TAl-PING-WANG.,

always terminated with the formula, *' Yet, to con-
tinue his heavy responsibility, let him still remain
in the administration of his functions."

There were, indeed, exceptional cases of courage.
Now and then a defeated mandarin would bravely
rip open his own belly, preferring not to outlive the
favor of his prince, and be set, stripped of button
and peacock's feather, to clean pipes, or wait at doors.
But, generally, the valor of the imperial officers was
of the same calibre with that of Governor Yeh, who,
when he had come within twenty-four hours' march
of the headquarters of the insurgent chief, sent him
a letter, informing him that he had arrived in his
neighborliood, and that, after resting his soldiers a
few days, he should advance to annihilate him ; and
who, when he received the chief's reply, saying that
he cared no more for his threats than "for the hairs
in his cap," broke up his camp in haste the same
day, and made his escape, wMth the loss of several
heavy guns, and a considerable number of jackets.

No little of this superiority of the insurgents was
owing to their discipline.* Whenever they w^ent
into battle, their officers, who never led, but always
followed them, had strict orders to cut down all who
either should attempt to fly from their ranks, or

• Note D, Appendix.

INSPIRED AND AIDED BY HEAVEN. 173

should fail to advance against the enemy on the sig-
nals being given by the gongs. Death was thus
more to be dreaded from behind than from before.
All straggling from the main body, likewise, and
plundering of the peaceable inhabitants of the dis-
tricts passed through by the army, were forbidden on
pain of death. Nor for such excesses was there any
excuse, inasmuch as ther heavy contributions laid
upon the commerce of the canals and rivers, and the
confiscation of the large public granaries and well-
filled pawnbrokers' establishments in the market-
towns and cities, kept the army abundantly supplied
with both food and clothing. When there was any
lack, all that was necessary to be done was to change
the camp to a district, the resources of which were
untouched.

Occasionally, violations of the rules of discipline
would occur, as the strings of offenders' heads hung
at the corners of the streets testified ; but generally,
the stories of districts ravaged, villages fired, cities
plundered, and men, women, and children put to
the sword, of which so many were told in the
Pekhg Gazette^ were either fabrications, or gross
exaggerations, or else, true narratives of what had
been done by the imperialists themselves, and then
charged upon their enemies. The invariable rule
of the insurgents was to treat well all who met

174 TAI-PING-WANG.

them with offers of aid or allegiance ; to seize upon
the public store-houses and shops of the rich mer-
chants in preference to the savings of the poorer
classes ; and to take the lives of the conquered only
when they had made unusual resistance, or when
an example of severity was deemed necessary to
terrify others into submission.*

To maintain so much discipline, however, in such
a horde of fanatics, it was necessary, not only to sus-
pend a sword over every soldier's head, but also to
station a sentinel over his faith. He was made to
believe that his chief was the favorite of heaven, and
its vicegerent ; that he was in constant communica-
tion with it ; that his orders were divine commands;
that his will was fate.

The chief, himself, had gradually come to entertain
the belief that he was commissioned by the Heavenly
Father to deliver the land from idolatry; and, on
finding himself at the head of a large army, this
doctrine became an indispensable instrument of suc-
cess. What Siu-tshuen had believed sincerely, Tien-
teh proclaimed from necessity. He gave out that
the orders issued to the army were received from
above, and consented that his chief officers should
be considered as sharers with him in the divine in-

Note E, Appendix.

INSPIRED AND AIDED BY HEAVEN. 175

spiration. Of the heaven-derived proclamations,
made from time to time to the army, in order to
animate their courage, and confirm their good be-
havior, the following is a specimen :

" On the 14th day of the 3rd moon (19th April) of
the Sin-k'ae year, (1S51), in the village of Tung-
heang, the Heavenly Father addressed the multitude,
saying, * Oh ! my children, do you know your Hea-
venly Father, and your Celestial Elder Brother
(Jesus) V

** To which they all replied, * We know our Hea-
venly Father, and our Celestial Elder Brother ! '

" The Heavenly Father then said, * Do you know
yoor lord (Tien-teh), and truly.'

** To which they all replied, * We know our lord
right well.*

" The Heavenly Father, thereupon said, * I have
sent your lord down into the world, to become the
celestial king ; every word he utters is a celestial
command; you must be obedient ; you must truly
assist your lord, and regard your king ; you must
not dare to act disorderly, nor to be disrespectful.
If you do not regard your lord and king, every one
of you will be involved in difficulty.' "

XXXI.

THE EXPLOITS OF THE VICEROY, SIU-KWANG-T8IN.

The career of the imperial commissioner sent to
Kwang-si in the second campaign, was no longer
than that of the one who had figured in the first.
Li-Sing-yuen, the successor of Lin, began with tak-
ing upon himself the responsibility of not sending
to Peking, Ching-Tsu-shin, the unsuccessful govern-
or of Kwang-si, as ordered, on the plea that, in
dismissing him from office, it could not have been
the intention of the government to dispense with
his services; then retired from the country south of
the West river, leaving the enemy in possession of
the departments of Sin-chau, Yuh-lin and Nan-ning;
and finally, overwhelmed with chagrin at his ina-
bility to exterminate the rebels, followed his prede-
cessor to the land of Jen-lo-wang. He had accom-
plished absolutely nothing during these few months,
but was, nevertheless, so lamented by the emperor,
that the latter is said to have shed tears on hearing

THE EXPLOITS OF SIU-KWANG-TSIN. 177

of his death, and to have sent five hundred taels of
silver, and ten ounces of ginseng, by way of consola-
tion, to his mother.

Governor Yeh still lived ; but to no purpose. As
his name imports, he proved himself to be only a
"leaf," trembling in every wind that blew; and,
after having succeeded in intrenching himself in
Ying-teh, at a safe distance^ from the enemy, did
nothing but write manifestoes to his troops, and
memorials to his master. His pusillanimity excited
the laughter of the whole city of Canton.

Another prominent actor, who now appeared on
the scene of affairs, was Major-general Wurantai, a
famous Tartar, and ** futu-tung" of the Canton ban-
nermen. Reported to be a man of extraordinary
pluck, he was ordered to the town of Wu-siuen, on
the Pearl River, for the purpose of checking the
progress of the rebels northward. With a force of
100 wall-pieces, 200 match-locks, 200 long spears,
120 iron rockets, 2,000 paper-rockets, and a grand
scheme for reducing the insurgents by starvation,
he set off for his destination. But he had not been
a month in the field before he obtained a victory
over a small body of the enemy, which had **a
slight blemish on it," in consequence of which he
felt obliged to send in to the emperor an humble
petition to be punished. This prayer, however.

178 TAI-PING-WANG. •

was graciously denied, though all the other officers,
who had " lost their chance" in the affair, were
ordered to be cashiered. But afterwards, in en-
deavoring to redeem his reputation, the unfortunate
"futu-tung" received a shot in the knee which not
only compelled him to leave his post, but very
soon sent him hobbling on the road to Jen-lo-
wang.

But of all those appointed to blow the imperial
trumpets in Kwang-si, it was the viceroy, Siu,
wliose blast was both tlie longest and the loudest.
Since the commencement of the war, he had passed
several times between Canton and the capital of
Kwang-si, though generally showing a marked pre-
ference for the former place. Whenever he did set
out for the seat of hostilities, it was always with
replenished coffers, and at the head of a fresli levy
of troops. He then was borne through the streets
in his gilt sedan-chair with great ado. A banner
was carried in advance, with the inscription, in large
characters, "Fall into order, and keep silence; this
is the Imperial Commissioner." Two tam-tams made
the requisite noise. Whereat the trades-people took
modest refuge in their shops ; the beggars hid them-
selves in the gutters ; the bearers of sedans let down
their loads; and the foot passengers respectfully
backed the walls of the houses. Thus, the great

THE EXPLOITS OF SIU-KWANG-TSIN. 179

mandarin, appointed to ** wipe clean away" the
Kwang-si *' pirates,'' passed through the streets of
the city. His troops followed pell-mell after him.
At the time of his leaving in the month of July,
there were 3,000 of them, besides a throng of in-
ferior mandarins, servants, executioners, musicians,
flag-bearers, and a certain number of females in cur-
tained sedans. A good supply of piasters, also, there
always was, borne on men's backs in sacks and cof-
fers ; for the viceroy relied much more on his silver
than his lead in reducing the enemy, and boasted
that, only give him ingots enough, and he would
take half the towns in the hands of the insurgents
without firing a shot.*

But it was a bad omen that, before getting out of
town, Siu should pass a portrait painter's shop
having hung out of the window the picture of a
decapitated mandarin, with head, cap, and button
lying in the gutter ; and the offended dignitary stopt
his sedan to order the artist to be paid for his pains
in the sum of forty blows of the bastinado. Nor
was it much better that he should be lampooned in
a forged proclamation of Tien-teh, stuck up on all the
walls, and offering a reward often thousand piasters
to whomsoever should bring in alive to camp " the

• Compare the account in Gallery and Yvan — though not gener-
ally good authority.

180 TAI-PING-WANG.

traitor Siu-kvvang-tsin.*' This greatly vexed the
viceroy, who roundly swore that he would wring
the neck of the jester ; but who, on considering that
some one might possibly take the joke in earnest,
prudently continued on his march.*

He arrived safely in Kwang-si, and immediately
set to work securely to ensconce himself within the
ramparts of Chao-king. But no sooner had he got
settled to his mind, than a rebel chief — by name,
Chou-lou-tao — coming into his neighborhood, had
the impudence to " call him out*' in single combat.
This was quite too much for the viceroy's temper.
It threw him into such a fit of passion that he im-
mediately called for his sedan, put himself at the
head of his troops, performed a whole day's march
backward, and would, probably, have ultimately re-
gained Canton, had not retreat in that direction been
cut off by the enemy.

But this check, mortifying as it might be to the
pride of so great a braggart, served, nevertheless, to
develop and illustrate the resources of his strategy.
For he here devised a scheme for the annihilation of
a body of insurgents, established on his line of re-
treat, such as is nowhere hinted at in the twenty-
four volumes of the Ou-pi-che, or •* Complete Trea-

• Note F, Appendix.

THE EXPLOITS OF SIU-KWANG-TSIN. 181

tise on the Art of War." It had not, indeed, the
merit of entire originality, but was as follows:

Seizing upon all the buffaloes and horned cattle
far and near, he had them tied together in squads,
and their horns equipped with torches of resin.
The design was to drive the animals down by night
upon the enemy's camp, thereby setting it on fire,
and frightening the rebels out of the country, under
the belief that the demons from the lower regions
were in pursuit of them with flambeaus and pitch-
forks.

Accordingly, one dark night the troop was set in
motion. It numbered about 4,000, and there was
a man at the heels of every buffalo. The whole
affair came down upon the rebels at a gallop, tails
in the air, and horns in a blaze. But, unluckly,
the secret of the expedition had been badly kept.
The insurgents had got wind of what was coming,
and, lying in wait, took possession of this large sup-
ply of beef on the hoof, cut to pieces the better part
of the force which accompanied it, and sent the
rest back into the hills at a smarter pace even than
that with which they had descended.*

Siu was taken at disadvantage, but he was not
entirely disconcerted. The very next week he camo

• Compare the narrative In the Friend ofCUna, September, 1851.

182 TAI-nXG-WAXG.

out with a new plan of attack, directed against
Tien-teh himself. This was to send an embassy,
and open, under cover of the white flag, a battery
of ingots upon him. Siu proposed to make over to
the chieftain, on condition of his disbanding his
forces, all the silver he had in his camp-chest, be-
sides promising immediately to raise for him twice
as much more, and holding out a prospect of man-
darin's buttons, peacock's feathers, and even an ad-
mission into the *' Forest of Pencils Society." But
this time, tlie cunning viceroy mistook his man.
He did not at all comprehend the serious character
of the insurgent movement, and vainly supposed its
leader to be such an one as himself, capable of being
bought for the price of a few court baubles. His
messengers, however, were civilly received, and sent
back, after five days of feasting, with new coats to
their backs — and that was the end of the matter.

One of the lesser strokes of policy executed by the
viceroy during this campaign, consisted in deputing
a trusty officer to proceed with a small force to the
district of Hwa-hien, for the purpose of destroying
the ancestral tombs of the Hung fiimily. This, it was
thought, would completely annihilate the prestige
of Tien-teh, inasmuch as, in China, a man, without
ancestors, is nobody, and without tablets and tomb-
stones to vouch for their having existed, is, if possi-

THE EXPLOITS OF SIU-KWANG-TSIN. 183

ble, still less. But as if to show that a new order
of ideas was about to prevail in the country, this
desecration of the pious memorials of Tien-teh's an-
cestry did not at all damage his consideration, nor
diminish the number of his followers.

Nor did the emperor fail worthily to second the
efforts of his servants in Kwang-si. It was esti-
mated that as many as 15,000 or 20,000 men were
sent into the province in the course of the season.
Orders were issued that the revenues of the customs,
and the salt-tax in several adjoining provinces, should
be appropriated to defraying their expenses ; ranks
and titles were freely sold for the same purpose in
both the Kwangs ; and contributions were levied
upon Canton, and other principal cities, where the
wealthier citizens were invited to loan the govern-
ment money, after the fashion vulgarly called a
" squeeze."

Hien-fung also exhibited, particularly in the
latter part of the year, no less activity in issuing
edicts degrading his officers, and magistrates, who
were unable to suppress the insurrection, than they
in sending in petitions requesting it. Even Siu
himself was lowered four degrees. Nor did the
emperor's prime minister, Sai-shang-ah, who had
been sent to succeed Li, as imperial commissioner
in Kwang-si, and who had failed of retaking the

184 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

city of Yung-gnan "in a fortnight," as ordered,
escape a similar letting down in his dignities. Two
generals of division, also, were cashiered for having
"feigned illness" on the eve of meeting the enemy;
one field-officer was punished for cowardice with
two months' exposure in the stocks ; and two pre-
fects of towns, unwilling to survive the loss of their
buttons, put an end to their existence — the one by
poison, and the other by hanging.

There were, indeed, not a few successes heralded
during the campaign in the Peking Gazette. One
bulletin killed off 800 rebels at a single volley ; an-
other detailed the marvelous effects of a cannon
ball, which swept away an entire file of the enemy's
army ; and a third contained a poem, written by the
emperor himself, on the valiant deeds of the " futu-
tung," "Wurantai, who had been successful in his
defense of the capital of Kwang-si against an at-
tack of the insurgents. There was any number of
these boastful viojiiteurs ; but the holding of this im-
portant city, called Kwei-lin, or " Forest of Cinna-
mon Trees," was the only real success during the
year on the part of the imperialists. It being
strongly fortified, the insurgents, who, at that period
of the war, possessed little or no heavy artillery,
and few skillful engineers, were unable to effect
its capture. But at every other point they were

THE EXPLOITS OP SIU-KWANG-TSIN. 185

victorious ; and, while the centre of their operations
turned upon the districts of Kwei-ping, Wusiuen,
and Siang, their standards were carried thence even
into the adjacent provinces of Kwang-tung, Hou-
nan, and Hou-pe.

XXXII.

THE ABMY AND COURT OP THE TAI-PINa DYNASTY.

The capture by the insurgents of the superior dis-
trict city of Yung-gnan was the feat of the cam-
paign which was followed by the most important
consequences. For here Tien-teh formally estab-
lished, and proclaimed his new dynasty, under the
name of Tai-ping (Great Peace), and he himself
was afterwards called Tai-ping-wang, or King of
Peace, the title of Tien-teh going into gradual dis-
use. At the same time his wife was, by special
edict, styled, Niang-niang, or empress ; and new
titles were given to his chief officers. Yang-Si u-
tsing was called " king of the east ;" Siau-Chau-
kwei, " king of the west ;" Fung-yun-san, " king
of the south ;" and Wei-ching, " king of the
north." Other high dignitaries also were created.
Shih was appointed assistant king ; Che, minister
of civil affairs ; Tsin was placed over the revenues ;
and Chou was made supreme judge,*

* Compare Ho. of Reps. Doc., No. 123, p. 155.

THE ARMY AND COURT OF TAI-PING. 187

The organization of the array, likewise, was now
perfected. It was divided into phalanxes of 13,125
men, under command of u dux; and these subdivided
into legions of 2,625 men, under command of a pre-
fect ; and these again into cohorts of 525 men, un-
der command of a tribune. The inferior officers
were denominated centurions, who were at the head
of divisions of 104 men ; vexillaries, at the head of
twenty-five; and cinquevirs, at the head of four.
All these subordinates, excepting the last, were dis-
tinguished by three-cornered flags, of different sizes ;
while the generals were known by still larger ban-
ners, which were four-square.

The flags bore inscriptions indicating the differ-
ent ranks, as for example, *'The dux of the phalanx
belonging to the Tai-ping dynasty, raised in the
district of Kwei, in the province of Kwang-si." The
cinquevirs also wore badges on their breasts, con-
sisting of a piece of cloth five inches square, on
which were written the names of the vexillary,
century, cohort, and legiou to which they severally
belonged, together with the words, " firm," " brave,"
" courageous," ** daring," or '* martial," to designate
each of the five cinquevirs. And the four soldiers un-
der each of the five cinquevirs, had a piece of cloth
four inches square, attached to their breasts, on which
were inscribed, besides the names of the respective

188 TAI-PING-WANG.

cinquevir, vexillary, century, cohort, and legion,
the words, " rush on the foe," *' beat the enemy,"
" obtain the victory," or " report success," to desig-
nate each of the four soldiers. Thus, every soldier
in the army had his particular badge, as well as
every officer his separate flag.

The females, who accompanied the troops, or
rather formed a part of them, were organized in a
manner very similar, having officers of their own
sex, and a separate camp. It fell to their lot, not
80 much to do the fighting, as the hard work, and
menial service of the army ; being rather its slaves,
than its sutlers.

The regulations of the "army of the Tai-ping
dynasty," consisted of ten principal rules to be ob-
served in camp, and ten to be observed on the
march. They were as follows :

RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN A CAMP.

1. Carefully obey the celestial regulation?.

2. Make yourselves thoroughly acquainted with the commands of
heaven, and the form of worship, with praise and thanksgiving, to
be used every morning and evening ; as well as with the orders is-
sued by the sovereign.

3. Cultivate good morals, avoid the smoking of tobacco, and the
drinking of wine, be just and mild ; do not conceal offenses, nor in-
dulge partialities, nor comply with inferiors at the risk of disobeying
superiors.

4. With united heart and effort obey the requisition of officers ;
do not conceal the number of military weapons, nor hide gold and
silver ornaments.

THE ARMY AND COURT OF TAl-PING. 189

5. Observe the distinctions between the camp of the males and
that of the females ; let not men and women give or take from each
other's hands.

6. Make yoarselyes familiar with the signals given for the
assembling of the troops by means of the gong, horn, or dram,
whether by day or by night.

7. Do not, without necessity, go from one camp, or legion, to
another, lest yon should throw into confusion public arrangements.

8. Learn correctly the proper title of officers, and the terms to be
used in addressing them.

9. Let your arms and accoutrements be always in order, and
ready for immediate service.

10. Do not falsify the laws of the State, and the regulations of the
sovereign ; do not wrongly communicate the military signals, or the
regimental orders.

RULES TO BE OBSERVED ON A MARCH.

1. Every soldier and officer, whether regular or volunteer, from
fifteen years old and upwards, must carry about with him the ne-
cessary military accoutrements, provisions, cooking utensils, oil and
salt : let no spear want its shaft.

2. Let no able-bodied soldiers or officers, whether inside or outside
men. ride in a chair, or on horseback, when not entitled to do so by
his station or office ; neither let any improperly impress outside
meuials into their service.

3. Let all officers and soldiers, whether outside or inside men,
stand on one side, and cry out, " Long live the king, or the queen,
or the princes,'* as the case may be ; and let none enter the royal
conveyance, or use the horses, or chairs of the royal ladies.

4. When orders are given, or the trumpet sounds, let every
one immediately hasten to the defense of the royal person, or
slaughter the foe in obedience to orders ; let none retreat, nor study
his own comfort

5. Let no officers nor soldiers, male or female, enter into the villages
to cook rice, or steal food ; nor let any injure the dwellings of the
people, nor steal their property : neither let them ransack the apo-
thecaries', or other shops, nor the public offices in the different pre-
fectures and districts.

190 TAI-PING-WANG.

6. Let not any one impress the outside menials, who sell tea, rice,
or water, to be bearers of burdens ; neither let any fraudulently
appropriate the baggage of any of their brethren throughout the
host.

7. Let not any hang up their lanterns by the roadside, nor in the
shops, and go to sleep, so as to impede the march ; but let all, whe-
ther in the front or rear, press forward in succession, and not attempt
to run away.

8. Let not any one set fire to the dwellings of the people, nor com-
mit nuisances in the roads, or in private houses.

9. Let not aged or infirm bearers of burdens be wickedly put to
death.

10. Let every one obey the commands and dispositions of the ge-
neral, or officers, and let none presume to advance, or retire, accord-
ing to their own convenience."

The ceremonial regulations of the new court were
quite as minute, and almost as numerous as those
framed for the government of the army. Titles,
orders of precedence, modes of address, and all the
points of oriental court etiquette were duly settled
and set forth. The following are specimens of these
orders :

** ' The Son of the Age,' or heir-apparent to the throne, is to be
addressed by all subjects with the title of * Young Lord ;' and * may
he live for a myriad of years.'

" The eldest daughter of the sovereign is to be addressed by all thope
under her as the ' Eldest Celestial Piece of Gold.'

•' From a prime minister to a dux, all are to be addressed as * The
Great Man ;' from a prefect to a vexillary, all are to be addressed as
* The Good Man ;' from the son of a prime minister to the son of a
dux, all are to be entitled * Son of the Just;' from the son of a pre-
fect to the son of a vexillary, all are to be entitled * Son of a Com-
mander ;' from the daughter of a prime minister to the daughter of

THE ARMY AND COURT OF TAI-PING. 191

a dux, all are to be entitled * Gems ;' and from the daughter of a pre-
fect to the daughter of a vexillary, all are to l5e entitled * Snow,' aa
* The Snow of the Prefect,' • The Sqow of the Tribune.'

" When one noble father-in-law wishes to converse with another
noble father-in-law, they must address each other according to the
precedence of rank ; for instance, if the noble father-in-law of the
king of 7,000 years wait upon the noble father-in-law of the king of
9,000 years, he addresses him as the ' Elder Brother, nobly related to
the Eaj*tem King ;' so, also, if the noble father-in-law of the king of
7,000 years meet with the noble father-in-law of the king of 6,000
years, he addresses him as the ♦ Younger Brother, nobly related to
the Northern King.' "*

Finally, among the lesser mattera regulated, and
changes introduced, at this time, it may be men-
tioned, ih&t the table of the newly-proclaimed em-
peror was served with increased state and ceremony ;
the number of his wives was raised to six-and-thirty ;t
a calendar was published, in which, by mistake, the
intercalary moon was omitted ; the Tartar tunic was
exchanged for one open in front, after the fashion
of the days of the Ming dynasty ; and every man
cut off his queue, in token that he had passed from
under the yoke of the foreigner.

• Compare Ho. of Reps. Doc., No. 123, XXXIIIrd Congress, Ist
Session, pp. 144-154.

t Mr. Commissioner Marshall says thirty — p. 2G8 of ditto.

XXXIII.

THE PRETENDED COXFESSIOXS OF TIEN-TEH.

But while Tien-teh was establishing his new dy-
nasty in Yung-gnan, a report was circulated by the
imperialists that he had been captured, and executed,
after confession.

The story originated in this wise: One of the
subordinate generals having been taken prisoner in
a skirmish, it w^as noised abroad that it was the
chief himself. So, in the opium war, the Chinese
having got possession of the body of an English sol-
dier, cut off the head, and sent it to court as that of
Sir Gordon Bremer. Accordingly, the story ran
through the country that Tien-teh had been sent in
an iron cage to Peking ; and the authorities, think-
ing to strengthen a feeble cause by falsehood, greedily
caught it up.

The captive was made to tell all he knew about
the real Tien-teh, and when he had done so, a docu-
ment was drawn up with no great cunning, and

THE PRETENDED CONFESSIONS OF TIEN-TEH. 193

publsihed as the dying confession of the leader of
the insurrection. There was some truth in it, but
more falsehood ; besides an evident attempt to bring
into contempt the author of the insurrection, as a
man of a weak and vicious character, and as a mem-
ber of the Triad and Shang-ti societies.

The substance of the document was, that the
captured general, who called himself Hung, had
been raised by the insurgents to the imperial dignity
under the title of Tien-teh ; that earlier in life he
had been an unsuccessful applicant for literary de-
grees ; that having turned bonze, he had directed his
attention more to the art of war than to the studies
of religion ; that in traveling through Kwang-tung
he had made the acquaintance of Hung-Siu-tshuen
and Hung-Yung-san, who were connected with a
** society of the three principles;" that Siu-tshueu
was learned in magic and the art of holding com-
munication with devils, while Yung-san had forged
a history about a Heavenly Father, and a Heavenly
Elder Brother, Jesus, who had come down from
heaven, where he resided in a palace ; that in De-
cember, 1850, he again met with Siu-tshuen, in
Kwang-si, where the latter had got together a society
of the Shang-ti, and had begun the work of pillage
and resistance to government; that Siu-tshuen
called him his worthy brother, and honored him

194 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

with the title of King Tien-teh, and took lessons of
him in the art of war ; that he called Siu-tshuen,
who had assumed the name of Tai-ping, his elder
brother, but they both were addressed by their in-
feriors as their majesties ; that in the month of
August the insurgents took possession of the city of
Yung-gnan, where he and Siu-tshuen installed them-
selves in the official residence ; that the latter was
grossly addicted both to wine and women ; that he
himself desired the destruction of Siu-tshuen, in
order to get the supreme power into his own hands;
that during the occupation of Yung-gnan, the officers
made regular reports to headquarters on affairs of
state and the army, and that a calendar was pub-
lished ; that on moving the camp from Yung-gnan,
he himself was made prisoner, with a loss of 1,000
men, in consequence of Siau's not obeying his orders ;
that his real name was not Hung, which had been
adopted on his making the acquaintance of Siu-
tshuen; and that it was not through his own choice
that he ascended the imperial throne.*

The inconsistencies of this confession are obvious.
While the pretended Tien-teh claims to have been
king and emperor, he, throughout the document, re-
fers to Hung-Siu-tshuen as his superior in authority;

♦ Peking Gazette.

THE PRETENDED CONFESSIONS OF TIEN-TEH. 195

and, while he asserts that he was raised to the im-
perial dignity against his own choice, he contradicts
himself by saying, that he was desirous of the over-
throw of Siu-tshuen, in order to seize on the su-
preme power himself. The outline of Siu-tshuen's
career is indicated in the confession with a tolerable
degree of correctness, and there can be no doubt
but that the person, from whom was obtained the
information contained in it, was well acquainted
with the main facts in his history. The deception
lies in the captive's assuming the name Tien-teh, by
which alone Siu-tshuen was then known to fame,
as it had only recently been laid aside for that of
Tai-ping-wang. For this the authorities at Peking
must be held responsible, and it is not a bad speci-
men of the small tricks so characteristic of their
diplomacy.

However, the mandarins at court followed up the
advantage supposed to have been gained in the pre-
tended capture and death of the leader of the insur-
rection, by scattering abroad reports calculated to
bring into contempt the whole movement. There
being nothing more ridiculous in the eyes of the
Chinese than for a nation of men to be governed by
a woman, pamphlets were put into circulation affirm-
ing that the rebels, after the loss of their chief,
had been brought under the petticoats of his widow.

196 TAI-PING-WANG.

This joke met with great currency; and the impe-
rialists, chuckling, said that the Kwang-si folks were
for restoring the days of the empress, Ou-hou, when
the hand of a vixen seized upon the reins of govern-
ment, and men submitted for twenty years to be tied
to apron-strings.

About the same time, also, was forged and pub-
lished in the official gazette, a most pitiful submis-
sion of the whole insurgent force, who, "with faces
prostrate on the ground," were made to tell a string
of falsehoods about having been compelled by rainy
seasons to go to Kwang-si for subsistence, where
they were so unfortunate as to become associated
with robbers ; but that, like the famous bandit,
Lu-miing, they had sincerely repented, and were
ready to offer their backs to the bamboos, which
they had so richly merited, but from which they
hoped to be delivered through the clemency of his
most gracious Majesty.

But to all these fanciful inventions of the im-
perialists, Tai-ping-wang replied from his newly-
established throne in Yung-gnan, with the following
serious and important declarations :

"Know, all people, students, freemen, artisans,
and merchants, that the fortunate days of Han are
about to return, and that the foreign dynasty of the
Manchus hastens to its termination. This is a sure

THE PRETENDED CONFESSIONS OF TIEN-TEH. 197

decree of heaven ; and things will be securely estab-
lished by the publication of our laws. We have
always displayed our beneficence, and, before pros-
trating ourselves before the Supreme Being, have
ever rendered assistance to the unfortunate. After
having learned to adore God, we have labored to
save the people from calamity — have supported the
weak, resisted the strong, and saved the villages
from robbers. We did not act like the chiefs Tai-
ta-ou, and others, who stopped the junks on the
rivers, pillaged and massacred the inhabitants of town
and country, and then asked the mandarins for pass-
ports and safe-conducts to take them to a place of
safety. When we, by the power of heaven, entered
Yung-gnan, we extended our munificence around
us, and, looking upon the people as our own chil-
dren, induced them to abstain from murder, and to
take nothing without permission. We are just and
impartial as a balance ; but if any one refuse obe-
dience, he will be handed over to the officers of the
army. We call upon the inhabitants of every dis-
trict to surrender if they would merit the reward
due to voluntary adhesion. In the meanwhile, we
are waiting the arrival of the chiefs from the other
provinces to join our forces, in order to go and
attack the capital, and take possession of the
empire."

XXXIV.

DESCENT OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER.

In setting up a new celestial kingdom, and wag-
ing a holy war against idolatry, Tai-ping-wang
believed himself to be acting as the instrument of
the one true God. He had on his side tlie heavenly
powers. The stars in their courses fought for him.

But to carry out his plans of conquest, and of
empire, it was necessary that this faith should be
shared by his followers. Accordingly, the new
spiritual ideas were expressed in language adapted
to their vulgar capacity ; the Deity was anthropo-
morphized, in order that their minds, judging accord-
ing to sense, might have an imaginary form, in the
place of the visible ones which had been discarded,
and an intercourse, after the manner of men, was
announced as existing between the court of heaven,
and that newly established on earth. For the God-
worshipers were, at best, but babes in the new

DESCENT OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER. 199

religion, and capable of apprehending it only when
taught in childish language.

The following official account of the descent of the
Heavenly Father, for the purpose of exposing and
bringing to punishment a spy in the insurgent
camp, will illustrate the kind of spiritual machinery
and figurative language, by which the chiefs guided
and controlled the forces of the insurrection :

On the twenty-ninth day of the tenth month of
the Sin-kae year (4th December, 1851), the first of the
Tai-ping dynasty, the Heavenly Father gave himself
the trouble to appear once more on earth, and ordered
Yang-Yun-tsing and Yang-poo-tsing, the two royal
cousins, to go to the several princes, and inform
them of his presence. The princes, on learning the
fact, attended at court, and entreated the celestial
king to accompany them ; whereupon his Majesty,
guarded by the princes and body-guards, together
with a host of officials, ourselves included, advanced
into the presence of the Heavenly Father.

Arrived there, the king, with all his ministers,
knelt down, and asked, saying, " Is the Heavenly
Father come down?" The Heavenly Father then
addressed the celestial king, saying, " Siu-tshuen, I
am going to take this matter in hand to-day ; a
mere mortal would find it a hard task ; there is one
Chow-seih-nang, a traitor at heart, who, yesterday,

200 TAI-PING-WANG.

after holding some collusive communication with the
enemy, returned to court, intending to carry into
effect a very serious revolt ; are you aware of this?'*
The king rejoined, " Tsing and the other brethren
have already informed me of this ; I am fortunate in
being able to depend upon the Heavenly Father's
power and ability in the management of the matter
this day ; otherwise I should find it a hard task."

When he had finished speaking, the Heavenly
Father commanded Mung-Tih-tien, saying, " Go you
and fetch Chow-Seih-nang."

Mung-Tih-tien replied, " Your commands shall be
obeyed ;" and forthwith brought Chow-Seih-nang
into the presence of the Heavenly Father.

The Heavenly Father then addressed that indi-
vidual thus : " Chow-Seih-nang, whence did you
come lately ?"

Seih-nang : " After repeated applications through
the eastern and other princes to the sovereign, I
was graciously permitted to return to Po-pih, to as-
semble the brethren and sisters."

The Father: "With whom did you go?"

Seih-nang : ** With Kwang-Chow-leen."

The Father : " Chow-Seih-nang, who is it that
is now speaking to you in the eastern palace."

Seih-nang : *' The Heavenly Father, the Supreme
Lord, and Great God is addressing me."

DESCENT OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER. 201

The Father : " Seih-nang, are you aware that the
Heavenly Father is omnipotent, omnipresent, and
6mniscient?**

Seih-nang : " I am aware that the Heavenly
Father is possessed of those attributes."

The Father: "Are you aware that China, in this
world of mortals, has, for many years past, paid me
no reverence V*

Seih-nang : ** The inhabitants of China, blind to
the goodness of the Heavenly Father, have long
neglected and ceased to worship him."

The Father : *' Do you know the measure of the
Heavenly Father's indulgence ?"

Seih-nang : ** His indulgence is as vast as the
ocean."

The Father : "Are you aware that the Heavenly
Father can assist men ?"

Seih-nang : " I know that he can assist men ; he
has already aided me several times."

The Father: "If you know that I have often as-
sisted you, you must be aware that your evil deeds
cannot be concealed from heaven; tell me, then,
truly, wherein you have done wrong ?"

After Chow-Seih-nang had finally confessed his
guilt, the Heavenly Father, sighing, addressed him,
9*

202 TAI-PING-WANG.

saying, *' Chow-Seih-nang, I, the Heavenly Father,
having discovered your schemes of rebellion against
heaven, did not expose them without reason, nor
accuse you wrongfully : according to your own
statement, I was right."

Chow-Seih-nang repentingly rejoined : *' The Hea-
venly Father has rightly exposed my errors, and I
have recounted my designs of rebellion against hea-
ven ; also, without a single misstatement. I know
that, by my errors, I have oflended against the laws,
and that my crimes are beyond forgiveness; I re-
pent them now when too late."

Tlie holy warriors of the Great God, and the as-
sembled troops, hearing this, were, one and all,
moved with indignation, and, gnashing their teeth,
prayed the Heavenly Father to order the traitorous
devil to be instantly cut into ten thousand pieces,
and burnt with fire.

The Heavenly Father replied : " Be courageous,
my children, and fear not to rejoice together ; reso-
lutely submit to heaven; I have the direction of
affairs."

He then addressed the celestial king, saying : *' Siu-
tshuen, be composed ; I am about to return to
heaven."

At this time it was already the third watch of the
night ; so the ministers all escorted their sovereign

DESCENT OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER. 203

back to his palace. And after they had cried " Long
live the king!" they all returned to their respective
quarters, glorifying and praising the goodness of the
Heavenly Father, and conversing, one with another,
on the omniscience and extraordinary power of
God.

But all on a sudden, the Heavenly Father re-
turned to earth, and directed the royal cousin, Yang-
Yun-tsing, to send some one to the residence of all
the princes, to tell them of his presence. We,
thereupon, together with all the oflScers of the court,
hastened into the presence of the Heavenly Father,
and, kneeling, asked him, why he thus took the
trouble to reappear.

The Father, thereupon, addressing the southern,
northern, and assistant princes, and the assembled
officers of all ranks, said : " I have, this evening, dis-
closed the schemes of those fiends, and have ex-
terminated those traitorous imps ; be increasingly
careful, my children, to advance yourselves in intel-
ligence and improvement ; in all things, I am pres-
ent to direct ; fear not, therefore."

They all replied : " We know that the Heavenly
Father's power is great; we pray the Heavenly
Father to regard us, and regenerate our hearts."

The Father rejoined : "If you are still ignorant of
my power, recall to-night's scene to mind ; if still

204 TAI-PIXG-WAXG.

unware of my omniscience and omnipotence, ponder
what has passed. Learn to know clearly the path
to heaven, and carefully abstain from going astray ;
be courageous, and resolutely obey heaven ; fear
not ; I hold the superintendence of affairs."

They all cried : " We gratefully acknowledge the
goodness of the Father in troubling himself to in-
struct us, his children."

The Father replied : " I shall now return to hea-
ven."

The whole army then rejoiced together at the
goodness of the Father, and proceeded to kill piga
and oxen, and offer them up in thanksgiving to the
Heavenly Father and Great God, for his power and
mercy in confounding the fiendish schemes of mortal
imps, and his gracious care over his children.

The next day, the Father gave orders to bind
Chow-Seih-nang, his wife, Tsae-Wanmei, his son,
Chow-Lechin, together with the imps who had been
in collusion with them, Choo-pah, Chin-woo, and
others, and bring them forward in order that they
might be put to death.

When they were brought, Chovv-Seih-nang, per-
ceiving he could not escape death, displayed some of
his better feelings, and, with a loud voice, addressed
the assembly, saying : " Brethren, of a truth, hea-
ven has this day interfered in this matter ; be ye all

DESCENT OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER. 205

careful to serve your country with fidelity; learn
from rae not to harbor traitorous designs against
heaven." His wife, also, indignantly pointing to-
ward her husband, loudly scolded him, saying : "Of
a truth, heaven has, indeed, interfered this day ; of
a truth, heaven is now about to slay you, for your
treason and treachery. When you communicated
to me these, your designs, I then, with tears, bade
you forego them, and now, alas ! mother and son are
by you murdered ; of a truth, you have injured
your fellows as well as yourself."

At this moment, Choo-Seih-kwan, who was ex-
posed in a cangue at the door of the palace court,
as an example to all, also cried out : "Brethren, be
awakened ; I am deeply indebted to the power and
might of the Heavenly Father ; for, but for his aid,
I should have been deceived by my uncle, Choo-pah.
My uncle has a wolfish heart, cut him, my brethren,
into a thousand pieces."*

* MedhoTBt's Translation.

XXXV.

SCHEMES OF THE CURKENCV DOCTORS.

The emperor, to add to all his other distresses, was
getting short of funds. For several years past, the
Chinese finances had been so badly administered as
to create an annual deficit of nearly thirty millions
of taels ; and now the extraordinary expenses of the
war were estimated by the board of revenue at
eighteen uiillioiis, or about fifteen millions of dollars.
Not that this sum had been actually expended on
the army; for peculation, on the part of the manda-
rins of all ranks, has of late years become so com-
mon and so oppressive, as to give rise to the popu-
lar saying that, "The greater fish eat the smaller;
the smaller eat the shrimps ; and the shrimps are
obliged to eat mud." But what with the money
actually applied to the raising and supporting of
troops, sometimes amounting to upwards of ten
thousand men, and that embezzled by the officials,

SCHEMES OF THE CURRENCY DOCTORS. 207

from the highest to the lowest, the imperial treasury
was at a low ebb»

How to replenish it was a subject of anxious in-
quiry with the honorable board, having the manage-
ment of the revenues. As was natural, there were
various opinions entertained respecting the best
methods of financiering. Some proposed that the
government should establish a monopoly of the
opium trade — an idea which, before the commence-
ment of the insurrection, would not have been toler-
ated ; others advised a still more liberal sale of
honors and offices ; and all insisted upon keeping up
the very convenient practice of " squeezing." Dis-
charge from the duties of office, with retention of
its emoluments, dispensations from punishments,
admissions into the "Forest of Pencils Society,"
peacocks' feathers, buttons — everything, it was pro-
posed, should be sold for money. And, finally, there
was the financial panacea of a paper currency to be
issued by government, as had been done during the
war with the "English devils."

But, in addition to all these schemes, there was
one prescription by a currency-doctor, for curing the
financial difficulty, which so well illustrates the
wisdom of the " celestials," as to be specially worth
the notice of all '* outside barbarians." This was
no less than a proposition to introduce an entirely

208 TAI-PING-WANG.

new medium of exchange, or money, and was
printed in the official gazette, with the endorsement
by the emperor, " Let the board of revenue take
this memorial into consideration. Respect this."
It was as follows :

" Cbu Lan, a subordioatc auditor in the court of audit, kneeling,
memorializes his me^esty that he will please have jade-stone cut for
money-counters, that thereby the national resources be increased,
and the needs of the people supplied ; upon which he humbly im-
plores the sacred glance.

" Your servant has recently observed that the precious metals do
not circulate much, which has caused a rise in the price of articles ;
the copper from the mines is insufficient, and the annual outflow of
silver at the marts on the cast and south into the ships of foreigners
must be reckoned by thousands and tens of thousands of taels. The
military expenses in Kwang-si, and the outlay for the repair of the
Yellow River, must also be reckoned by myriads ; thus, though the
fountain docs not furnish, still the stream docs not stop, and this has
caused the present embarrassment in both public and private affairs.
In my humble opinion, in order to prevent everything going to ruin,
and restore prosperity by a short and certain method, no better plan
can be devised than to use jade-stone for money-counters. The an-
cients regarded jade as among their most precious things ; and
according to the Ready Guide, it was placed under the care of the
third of the nine treasurers ; it was also often presented to the Great
Yu as tribute, from all parts of the empire.

" The Cantons of Yarkand and Khoten have many streams in which
jade is found, and Mount Martai in Yarkand also furnishes much of
it During the reign of Kienlung many thousand pounds of it were
brought in, from which musical instruments were made, but in con-
sequence of the high resident Kau Puh secretly selling them through
traders, a Tsahlun (guard?) was placed on the Martai Mountains to
prevent people getting out the jade. In 1799, the Tsahlun was spe-
cially ordered to allow the people to purchase whatever jade was
obtained over the customary tribute.

SCHEMES OF THE CURRENCY DOCTORS. 209

" There were three sorts of jade obtained at that time from the
Martai Mountaio, of which the best was a clear green, the second a
leek green, and the third white ; the quantity of each furnished being
respectively 10,000, 8,000, and 3,000 catties, all of which was trans-
ported as far as the Canton of Hbarashar with so great difficulty, that
it was ordered to be left there, and, I have heard, is still at the post
of Ushakchala, 230 If northeast of the town of Hharashar.

'' It is my opinion, that as your majesty's virtuous qualities in-
fluence the national mind, the empire will not require works of art
and value ; but in these times of straitening in the exchequer, to
have property cast away as useless, and not made of service, is ex-
ceedingly to be regretted ; and it is requested that your majesty will
ispue orders to the resident of Hharashar that the three sorts of jade
remaining there be sent on to Peking in suitable lots, and that that,
which the mountains and streams produce, be estimated, and all made
into certain shapes for circulation and use among the people.

" Officers of government can receive these pieces both for their
salary and for the duties, and issue them ; while the people can pay
them for taxes, like money, each according to their value, all kinds
being received and paid out by all classes according to a set valua-
tion. The colors of the different qualities must also be carefully
distinguished, and Chinese and Manchu characters be engraved on
them. They will thus form a trustworthy evidence [of property]
for people, who will neither be subject to loss from rotting, to be
swindled from taking forged pieces, nor bo injured by their
wastage.

"Moreover, these money counters will, of course, be received, I
think, among the people ; and be a source of much profit to the
government, too. Then, the people will be fully supplied, affairs will
not be impeded, nor public and private dealings so embarrassed.
The value of silver will gradually be equalized, and the deterioration
of cash also remedied by degrees ; while jade, which is now useless,
will become valuable. If we compare the merits and demerits of
this plan with that of issuing bills, it is certainly easier in execution,
and the country will put more trust in it.

'•Your servant is little conversant with affairs of the world, and
hardly dares to venture thus to intrude his crude ideas how to benefit
the empire ; but still he wishes that they may be considered as to

210 TAI-PING-WANG.

their practicability, for even a fool may have one useful notion. A
carefully prepared memorial.''

Another very remarkable financial project, sub-
mitted to the government, and published in the offi-
cial gazette, was to coin iron money ; and was as
follows :

" Ha-fun, the governor of Shau-se, memorializes the emperor to
the following effect :

" The rebellion being yet unsubdued, and the requirements of the
army being very great, something must be done towards supplying
the one, in order to repress the other. I have been thinking that
the unusual circumstances in which we are placed require the adop-
tion of extraordinary measures, and nothing appears to me more
suitable than the alteration of the coinage ; which. I conceive, will
be attended with the four following advantages, now submitted to
the imperial con-'idcration :

"First, It will relieve the necessities of the army. It appears
that several of the provinces produce iron, where it is as plentiful
as stones, and only a few cash a catty ; so that capital laid out in
this article would soon be returned many-fold. Let the boards of
revenue and of works cease from coining copper cash, but proceed
immediately to manufacture a great quantity of iron cash ; and let
two thousand iron cash be considered equal to one tael of silver, in
the payment of oflScial salaries, and in the support of such troops as
remain in the capital ; and let the silver that is received by govern-
ment be all employed for the support of the army engaged in actual
service, which will thus be well supplied. Further, in those pro-
vinces which produce iron, let a large amount of iron cash be coined,
and when these are partly employed in the payment of official sala-
ries, and the wages of the militia, the surplus silver sent up to the
capital will be abundant ; with which the necessities of the army in
the field may be amply supplied. It appears to me that if the email
copper cash which are clandestinely coined can be brought into cir-
culation, the government coinage of iron cash ought to be more
readily taken in commerce.

SCHEMES OF THE CURRENCY DOCTORS. 211

'•Secondly, A paper currency will, by this means, be promoted.
It appears that the merchants of every province, when they dispose
of their goods, invariably exchange copper for silver, for the con-
yenience of transport. Should, then, an iron coinage be brought into
circulation, the price of silver will rise. But if the people of the
outside provinces should exchange their iron cash for bills on some
government banker, in order to convey the amount easily to the
capital, paying, at the same time, one per cent, for the accommoda-
tion, then the merchants, considering this still more convenient than
the transmission of silver, would purchase paper, and the iron cash
would remain in circulation in the outside provinces.

" Thirdly, The price of silver would be reduced. It seems that
silver rises in price because merchants are desirous of taking it back
with them in return for produce disposed of; but when paper money
gets into circulation, it is preferred to silver, for the convenience of
carriage, and silver falls.

*' Now, when the iron coinage is first introduced, silver will rise ;
but when merchants want to exchange their money for paper, in
order to convey it to a distance, then silver will fall again.

'•There will be some difficulty, however, about getting the iron
currency into circulation, and care must be taken lest gain-seeking
scoundrels should turn to, and coin on their own account.

"Fourthly, Should the coinage, now recommended, be adopted,
there will be less chances of deficiencies in the salt-gabelle, as well
as in the amount of duties collected at the barriers, also in the land
revenue and the capitation-tax. In collecting these taxes, the
officers generally receive copper, and pay in silver, or they collect
rice, and turn it into money ; and ever since the price of silver has
risen so enormously, the collectors of the above-named revenues
have always been deficient in their accounts. But if silver falls in
price, such deficiencies will cease.

"The above Jour advantages, to be derived from an iron coinage,
are humbly submitted to his imperial majesty's consideration.
" The emperor says, * Let it be recorded.' "

XXXVI.

HE UASCHE8 NORTHWARD.

Tai-ping-wang now resolved to set his face
northward. For two years he had prudently con-
fined his operations almost entirely to Kwang-si,
passing from district to district, as was most con-
venient for the raising of supplies, and gradually
augmenting the number of his followers. Now he
felt sufficiently strong to change his tactics, and ad-
vance into the heart of the empire.

His way led through the rich province of Hu-nan
to the Yang-tsze-kiang, and thence, down its rapid
current, to Nanking, the ancient capital of the Mings.
The first step to be taken, accordingly, was to gain
the river ; towards which, after a residence of nearly
eight months in Yung-gnan, he took up his line of
march.

During this delay, Siu, gradually gaining courage,
had moved his tents nearer and nearer to the city.
Sai-shang-ah had done the same ; being supported

HE MARCHES NORTHWARD. 313

Dy general Heang-yung, who had recently been
banished to Tarkestan, but recalled before he had
taken the first step on his journey ; while Siu, on
his part, had the valuable assistance of governor
Chow-t'heen-tseoh, of Kwang-tung, who, on report-
ing the death of the imperial commissioner Li, had
concentrated some little attention on himself by in-
forming the government that he " was suffering from
an attack of bleeding at the nose." These two
captains, with their redoubtable lieutenants, had
been hanging about the neighborhood of Yung-gnan
for several months, hoping to make sufficient noise
to frighten the insurgents out the city, and then,
entering it themselves, send the news of a great vic-
tory to Peking, to be duly heralded in the Royal
Gazette. Their patience was put to a pretty severe
test ; but it was finally rewarded, the imperialists
marching into one gate as the foe marched out of the
other.

The insurgents, continuing their march, entered
the province of Hu-napj and were followed, at a
very respectful distance, by the imperialists. In the
month of June, 1S52, they reached Taou-chow,
wh;ch was the first city of consequence taken by
them after crossing the frontier ; in the course of the
summer, they reduced to subjection the principal
towns in the southern division of the province ; and.

214 TAI-PING-WANG.

in September, they laid siege to its strongly-walled
capital, Chang-sha.

This city is reputed to be older than the Christian
era, and is a place of no little commercial importance.
It is situated on a tributary of the Yang-tsze-kiang,
called the Siang, the clear blue waters of which wash
the foundations of its walls, on one side, and reflect on
their glassy surface its long line of battlements. On
the other, richly wooded hills rise rapidly to moun-
tains, and terminate in peaks black with basalt.
Thus, the place is strong in its natural position, as
well as from its fortifications ; and the good citizens,
believing themselves secure from attack, were cele-
brating on the river their annual fete of boats, when
it was announced that a column of the insurgent
army was marching on the town.

For eighty days a strong detachment of the in-
surgents sat patiently before the walls, which, like
those of the capital of Kwang-si, were destined to
withstand all their attacks. The fighting was not,
indeed, very serious. The besiegers contented them-
selves with carrying a mine under an angle of the
walls, and burning, from time to time, a little weak
powder, more for the sake of making a noise than
from expecting to do any considerable damage to the
fortifications. Parleys were frequently held from
the battlements with the enemy outside ; when the

HE MARCHES NORTHWARD. 215

latter, striking their sword-blades together with
menacing clangor, would challenge the besieged to
come out and try their strength in a fair field ; or,
they would let off great numbers of fire-crackers in
derision ; and, with indecent words and gestures,
make themselves merry at the expense of the other
party. There was, indeed, no loss of valor, and lit-
tle of life on either side. The imperialists much
preferred smoking, drinking tea, and playing chess,
to sallying out to attack the outsiders ; and these,
after having succeeded in undermining and blowing
up a portion of the walls, were twice prevented
from making an assault by violent showers of rain,
which went through their cartouche-boxes, and
effectually dampened both powder and spirits. Af-
terwards, the breach having been found to be
unfavorable for taking the place by storm, and the
supplies having, for some time, come in less abund-
antly from the surrounding country, the besiegers,
striking their tents, passed on to easier conquests,
and better-filled granaries.

Meanwhile, Siu and Sai-shang-ah, profiting by
the delay of the insurgents in central Hu-nan, suc-
ceeded in coming up with them about the time they
raised the siege of Chang-sha, and, therefore, just
in season to claim that voluntary withdrawal of
forces as a general rout of the enemy, with loss

910 TAl-PING-WANG

of guns and prisoners, besides hundreds who, in
their flight, fell over precipices, and as many more
drowned by tumbling into the canals. The fact
was, however, that, excepting the honors won by
defending the capital against the petards let off un-
der the walls during the eighty days' siege, the
imperialists won not a single laurel throughout the
campaign.

On the contrary, they showed a marked reluc-
tance to meet the enemy. When they arrived in the
neighborhood of Hung-chau, Tai-ping-wang wrote
to Siu a " letter of battle," informing him that he
was then resting his army, but that, in the third
moon of the coming year, he should be ready to
fight him. This expression of contempt put the
imperial commissioner into a towering rage, and he
at once returned the following pithy answer : ** We
are the celestial army, who have received orders
from his sacred majesty to execute you rebels. We
have come to execute, not to do battle with you."
And when he had sent off this message, he imme-
diately dispatched couriers to the governors of the
adjacent provinces, commanding them to keep up a
good watch at their respective stations ; and then,
getting into his sedan, fell back at the head of his
forces until he had put an additional day's march
between himself and the enemy.

HE MARCHES NORTHWARD. 217

It being, at this period of his career, no part of
the policy of Tai-ping-wang to hold possession of
the cities which he captured, but simply to press
forward with a constantly increasing volume of
forces towards the capital of the country, and the
seat of the Tartar dominion, it was a matter of little
consequence to pass by Chang-sha without taking
it. His aim was to strike the Yang-tsze-kiang,
and get control of the immense commerce which is
floated from a thousand tributaries down this truly
inland sea to the ocean, and thence back to their
sources. Therefore, he pushed on northward,
and, before the close of the year, having laid
under contribution all the towns on the line of
his march, he arrived on the banks of the Yang-
tsze-kiang, and established his headquarters in Yoh-
chau.

In this city, which is situated at the point of
junction between that river and the great lake
of Tung-ting, the insurgents found an abundance
of stores •of all sorts, amounting, it was estimated,
at from fifty to one hundred thousand taels in
value ; and, after having taken possession of both
sides of the river, they laid tolls upon its com-
merce, which soon filled their coffers to overflow-
ing. Their chief now felt that the success of his

plans of conquest was certain, and put up before
10

218 TAI-PING-WANa.

his headquarters the following couplet, in letters
of red :

The Tiger, hastening with his three thousand braves, will tread in

the mire the secluded land of Yen ;
The dragon, flying to the emperor's seat, will again reyive the days

of Yan and Shun.

On the other hand, the imperialists were over-
whelmed with both indignation and terror. The
road through the centre of the empire was now
open to the rebels ; and one more such campaign
would bring the " Kwang-si riffraff," before the
walls 'of Nanking, if not of Peking itself. It was,
therefore, necessary to assume some appearance of
vigorous proceeding, in order to cloak the extent
of their apprehensions. Luh-keen-ying threatened
to sail immediately up the river with all the forces
of the province, in order to exterminate the enemy ;
the governors of the adjacent provinces, and the
magistrates of the principal towns on the river, ex-
pressed their readiness to cooperate with the vice-
roy ; and, in the more exposed districts, the man-
darins were instructed to issue proclamations to
pacify the people. But Sai-shang-ah, on the other
hand, was recalled from the field for ** letting the
rebels do just as they liked;" and Siu, who had
been appointed viceroy of the two Hu provinces,
was deprived of his rank, for " lagging too far behind

HE MARCHES NORTHWARD. 219

the enemy," though he was retained in office, that
he might have a chance of redeeming his reputa-
tion.

These measures, both positive and negative, hav-
ing been taken, the imperialists were enabled, for a
time, to eat and sleep again, as was their wont.

XXXVIL

DESCENT OP THE YANQ-TSZE-KlANa.

When, indeed, the emperor was told that the
buffaloes of the insurgents were drinking the water
of the Yang-tsze-kiang, he trembled in his palace,
like Belshazzar, when he read the hand-writing on
the wall.* And well he might For this river of
the golden sands runs through the centre of the
empire, a course of full three thousand miles. Be-
tween the mountains of KokonOr and the Yellow
sea, lakes, whose broad expanse covers, in one
instance, an area of three hundred square miles, and
rivers, one of which traverses a distance of more
than as many hundred leagues, pour their multitude
of waters tributary into this noblest of the sons of
the ocean. Millions of people dwell on its banks ;
and myriads of water-craft bear their products of
rice and tea, of silks and cottons, of woods and por-

• Note G, Appendix.

DESCENT OF THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 221

celains, from mart to mart. The traveler, sailing
down between banks on which, alternately, weeps
the willow and waves the bamboo, as he loses sight
of the forests of masts of one city, beholds before
him, in the distance, the pagodas of another. Nor
do the almost continuous towns and villages, on
either side, suffice to furnish habitations for all the
swarming population ; but he sees the class of fish-
ermen living in the air, being perched on scaffoldings,
and multitudes passing their lives afloat on junks and
flower-boats. Canal and river* hill and dale, plain
and mountain-side, all teem with human life, con-
stantly multiplying itself; fur the soil of the great
valley is rich ; the climate is temperate ; the in-
habitants labor with an industry which, as it is
attended with no disgrace, so it knows no rest ; and
tens and hundreds of years of culture, thoroughly
subduing the face of nature, have made it to bring
forth its increase many-fold, and, like the wilder-
ness of the prophet, to bud and blossom as the rose.
The point first reached by the insurgents on this
" girdle of China," was Yoh-chau, and, before the
end of the winter of 1852-3, proceeding down the
stream, they were masters of the great cities of
Han-yang and Wu-chang, in the province of Hu-
pe. These are situated on the banks of the Yang-
tsze-kiang, and in such close proximity as to render

222 TAI-PING-WANG.

this region not only superior, in point of population,
to any part of China, but equal to the greatest em-
poriums of the world. The river, which, up to this
point, is navigable for the largest vessels, is one im-
mense mart, covered with junks, whose flags and
ribbons fill the air like flocks of gayly-plumed
birds, and whose decks are piled up with merchan-
dise, both native and foreign, borne from one end of
the empire to the other. The booty of the insur-
gents, therefore, was immense. The coffers of Tai-
piiig-wang were so heavy with taels, that his
troops were paid with both a punctuality and a
liberality unknown before in China ; and it became
no uncommon sight to behold the commonest
soldiers dressed in silks and satins, their jackets
gorgeous with red or yellow, and their caps vieing,
save in button and feather, with those of the proud-
est mandarins of the land. Tliis abundance of pro-
visions, clothing, and treasure, raised by contribu-
tions imposed on the conquered cities, and by the
confiscation of all public stores and property, made
the progress of the insurgent host down the stream
resemble the triumplial return home of the Roman
armies, laden with the plunder of the provinces and
great cities of the East.

Only at Wu-chang was there any serious show of
resistance. There, the contest was for a short time

DESCENT OF THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 223

Violent ; and when the insurgents succeeded in en-
tering the town, sword-in-hand, they made the
streets run red with the blood, not only of the de-
feated soldiery, but of men, women, and children,
giving, for a time, no quarter, and piling up heads
in the streets like stacks in a harvest-field.

Meanwhile, the imperialists were lagging far be-
hind, following, not pursuing the enemy. Siu, in-
tent only on picking up the crumbs which Tai-ping-
wang had left under his tables, proved a greater
scourge to the cities he entered than even the in-
surgents who had preceded him. His troops pil-
laged where they arrived too late to defend. Most
of the larger places, therefore, in which insurgent
garrisons had been left, refused to open their gates
to the representative of the emperor, so that he
was compelled to get such scanty supplies as he
could from the smaller towns and villages. Barely
was he able to maintain his own forces, much less
to check the foe.*

When, then, the emperor heard of the capture of his
rich cities in the two Hus, he issued a decree, where-
in he reasoned and ordered after this fashion : *' If we
put to death commissioner Siu, and general Heang-
yung, we should only extricate them from their

* Note H, Appendix.

224 TAI-PING-WAXG.

difficulties; therefore, while we deprive Siu of the
dignity of governor-general, and of the peacock's
feather with two eyes, we allow him to retain office
as high commissioner, and provisionary governor
of the Kwangs. General Heang-yung is degraded ;
but he will be allowed to fulfill his duties till he
has given signs of improvement."

Afterwards, Hien-fung not only stript Siu of his
feathers and buttons, but ordered him up to Peking
to be beheaded in the following autumn. Where-
upon, the famous exterminator of the *' Kwang-
si pirates" disappeared ; and a report was spread
abroad that he had poisoned himself by swallowing
gold-leaf — show'ing the ruling passion of a mandarin
strong in death. Alas! for him, that he should ever
have taken the field ; for he had previously earned
the reputation of being an able minister ; and had
he remained in the cabinet, would, no doubt, have
died with his cap on, in full feather and button.
But the viceroy of the Kwangs was never intended
by nature for a soldier, and the moment he donned
the military jacket, it made a harlequin of him.

Meanwhile, seeing the exposed condition of Nan-
king, the emperor was unsparing in his use of edicts,
directed to the high officers of the province of Kieng-
nan, and others adjoining it, summoning them to the
defense of the ancient capital of the empire. Re-

DESCENT OB" THE YANG-TSZE-KIANG. 225

newed and still more urgent commands, too, were
forwarded to Lu-keen-ying, viceroy of the Kiangs,
that he should proceed up the river, and destroy the
fleet of the descending enemy.

Lu-keen-ying, accordingly, weighing anchor, sent
forward word to Tai-ping-wang, that he was on his
way to destroy him; and earnestly advised him to
disperse his forces — to retreat — to fly — to "take
himself clean away." To all of which information
and advice, Tai-ping-wang returned the reply, that
he would "cut off the head of every imp of a Tartar
who should dare show it, and would bury his body
in the bellies of the fish of the Yang-tsze-kiang."

So, the insurgent chief kept on his course ; cap-
turing Kwang-chau, Kiu-kiang, Ngau-king, Chi-
chau, Woo-poo, Tai-ping, and many other important
towns on the river, and its tributary waters ; never
getting sight of the retreating viceroy Lu, who had
been commanded to arrest his progress; and, finally,
descending the lower Yang-tsze-kiang with a force
constantly increasing, and, like unto that of the
river itself, when, in the time of floods, it rises to

scourge the land.
10*

XXXVIII

NANKING.

On the twenty-fifth of February, the viceroy, Lu-
keen-ying, who, a short time before, had gone up the
river with his vessels of war, to blow the junks of
the rebels out of the water, suddenly reappeared
in Nanking. He returned by a single boat, in the
middle of the night; and, shutting himself up in his
palace, took three days to recover from the fright
he had received in a skirmish of his advanced guard
with the enemy at Woo-heue. His attendants gave
out that Tai-ping-wang, with his Meautz', was com-
ing down the river like a typhoon ; and that he had
sworn, with an oath, that he would not eat his
breakfast until he had driven the Tartars out of the
city of the Mings. All this filled the peaceable
burghers with consternation. It was in vain that
a dispatch had been sent to Peking, at the rate of
six hundred le a day, requesting that generals
Heang-fung and Ke-shen should be directed to ex-

NANKING. 227

terminate the rebels ; in vain that the walls^of the
city had recently been repaired ; that cannon had
been planted on them at intervals ; that soldiers had
been enlisted ; ammunition collected together ; and
proclamations upon proclamations issued to pacify
the people. The people were frightened. They,
therefore, took to flight, carrying what valuables
they could with them to the country. And when
the viceroy and the lieutenant-governor saw that
the people would run away, spite of proclamations,
they followed them. " They ran like mice in differ-
ent directions." What became of Lu-keen-ying is
not known, though it was currently reported that
he committed suicide. But the lieutenant-gov-
ernor, Yung-wan-ting, suddenly discovered that
the important city of Chin-kiang-fu, situated some
forty miles lower down the river, was in extreme
danger of an attack from the insurgents, and that
his presence alone, in all probability, would save it
from being captured. He, therefore, set off* for that
city, notwithstanding " the treasurer, Ke, and his
fellows, strove to detain him with tears."

There was cause for alarm ; for, on the morning
of the eighth of March, the watchman on the walls
of Nanking beheld the thousand banners of the in-
surgent host advancing from the west. He, who
had been a poor, rustic schoolmaster, who had

228 TAI-PING-WAXG.

been stript by thieves while traveling on foot to
preach his new doctrines in a distant province, who
had spent years in laboriously gathering together a
small band of converts from idolatry, but who had
led that little company of believers out of the
mountains of Kwang-si with a success almost re-
sembling that with which Moses conducted the
children of I^ael out of Egypt, who had inspired
his followers — grown to be an army — with one
mind, had kept them, though a mingled horde of
fanatics, mountaineers, and outlaws, subject to dis-
cipline, had led them to victory after victory over
the best troops of the empire, taking cities by
storm, overrunning provinces, and laying under
contribution the commerce of lakes and rivers,
now sat down before the walls of the Southern
capital with a force of sixty thousand men, and
summoned it to surrender at discretion to his
arms.

Nanking is situated, at a distance of about four
miles from the Yang-tsze-kiang, on a plain inter-
sected by canals, and nearly surrounded by hills,
partly wooded, and partly under cultivation. It
was for a short period the seat of the imperial gov-
ernment of the Mings, and was long the most cele-
brated city in the empire, whether for its extent,
its buildings, its manufactures, its. trade, its learn-

NANKING. 5J29

ing, or its social refinement. The remains of its
ancient walls can now be traced for a distance of
thirty-five miles; and the modern inclosure, though
much circumscribed, is large enough to contain not
only about half a million of inhabitants, but also
extensive spaces occupied by cultivated fields and
gardens, or overrun by woods, or left desolate with
the ruins of a departed magnificence. Though
fallen from its height of prosperity, its manufac-
tures of satins and crapes, of fine paper, and arti-
ficial flowers, are still celebrated ; while the fame of
its nankeens has gone round the world. Twice a
year, its well-irrigated plains are covered witli
crops ; the growth of vegetables never ceases in
its gardens; its orchards are loaded with jujubes,
pomegranates, peaches, and many strange fruits, as
fair to the eye, as luscious to the taste ; while even
its canals yield in abundance the edible roots and
fruit of the beautiful nelumbium and the slender
stalks of the ajprus csculentus.

Being the residence of a viceroy .over two pro-
vinces, which are estimated to contain a population
of twenty-eight millions, Nanking has the attrac-
tions of a provincial court of the first order. A
great number of officials are gathered together
here; the concourse of artists has always been
large ; and men of letters, attracted by the literary

230 TAI-PING-WANG.

examinations, or by the extensive libraries and
book-stores, have made this city the capital of the
Chinese republic of letters. It is, indeed, such a
congregation not only of men of science, antiqua-
ries, poets, and painters, but also of dancers, jug-
glers, and courtezans, as is nowhere else to be found
in the kingdom.

In the possession of all that which constitutes
the elegance and luxury of Chinese life, Nanking
vies even wath the far-famed Su-chau, respecting
which the popular proverb runs that, "In heaven
there is a paradise, but on earth there is a Su-chau."
The shops, which line the four broad, clean, and
well-paved avenues, which run through the city,
are filled with silk, linen, and cotton fabrics, with
works in ivory, wood, and iron, with lackered-
ware, with porcelain, and whatever is most per-
fect in Chinese art and workmanship. The houses,
though generally of a plain exterior, are often
wrought internally with beautiful woods and mar-
bles, having furniture inlaid with ivory and mother-
of-pearl, being decorated with paintings and vases,
and made cheerful by court-yards, arbors, and gar-
dens. Through the canals, shaded by the bamboo
and perfumed by the olive, course perpetually thou-
sands of pleasure-boats ; while on the enchanting
islands, set, like a string of pearls, in the current

NANKING. 231

of the Yang-tsze-kiang below the city, are hid in
flowery groves the innumerable villas of the man-
darios. In these suburban retreats, life is said to be
a mere song, piped to on a reed ; where the tobacco
is all '* old man's eyebrow" ; where the wine is
" from over the ocean" ; where the opium-pipe is
proffered to the lips by the fair hands of concu-
bines from Su-chau ; and where everything in ex-
istence, of serious moment or true worth, is made a
jest of, and banished, like the unsuccessful generals
of Hien-fung, " beyond the wall."

XXXIX.

THE PORCELAIN TOWEB.

But the coming of Tai-ping-wang scared the maa-
darins out of their islands, and the buyers and sellers
from the shops which line the four avenues of the city.
Nor was there any help for them from Peking.
The emperor had, indeed, sent for his Tartars on
the banks of the Amour, the once valiant troops
of the "eight banners," and the terror of the black-
haired nation. But the degenerate sons of these
ancient hordes now took two days of rest for every
one of motion ; and their general, Fung-chen, who
marched through the land as if it were enemy's
country, laying it under heavy contributions, eating
like a locust, demanding horses and sedan-chairs as
loudly as if his army had not a leg to stand upon,
and beginning to become subject to sudden indispo-
sitions, attended with long halts, even before get-
ting within five hundred miles of the face of an
enemy, had already had his honors lowered several

THE PORCELAIN TOWER. 233

pegs since he started from Manchuria, and gave
promise of being rather a burden to the country
than its deliverance.

Hien-fung*8 other measures were equally ineffect-
ual. Perplexed by the difficulties of his situation,
the youthful monarch conceived the idea that it
would be some consolation to himself, and of great
benefit to the State, for him to share his throne
with one of his prettiest wives. Therefore, not
knowing, apparently, what else to do, he took the
extraordinary step of making an empress of Niu-
lu-ku ; declaring her to be an excellent lady, well-
"born, amiable, dutiful, frugal, and *' willing to wash
fine linen, and even coarse, with her own hands."
He set her over all the ladies of the **8ix pavil-
ions;" appointed her to aid and comfort him in
the perfumed apartments of the palace of the
Nenuphars ; ordered her to be saluted empress
with the usual genuflexions, and knockings of the
forehead three times on the ground ; and by pro-
clamation respectfully communicated a knowledge
of the event to heaven, earth, the manes of his
ancestors, and the tutelary spirits of the land, and
of the harvests.

Hien-fung, also, going on his knees before "August
Heaven," with fastings, continued through the twelve
hours of a night, entreated that the land might have

234 TAI-PIXG-WAXG.

peace; and printing his prayers on yellow paper,
caused them to be distributed among the people.
At the same time, he added an exhortation that all
men should supplicate the goddess Kouan-in " to
hurry up the grain junks to Peking, for the relief
of the son of heaven."

But none of these royal doings stopped Tai-ping-
wang from undermining the walls of Nanking. On
the nineteenth of March, a breach, twenty or thirty
yards wide, was eflected, by a mine sprung near the
northern angle ; and the insurgents, mounting it,
spear in hand, swept away what little resistance
was made, and took possession of the city. The
Tartar population, with the exception of about one
hundred males, and nearly four hundred females,
who escaped with their lives, were put to the sword,
men, women, and children, in all, twenty thousand
souls. Diligent search was made throughout the
city for this hated race, so that there was not left
of it so much as *'a dog or a fowl." But the native
population was spared. Nor were the buildings of
the city as much injured as those of many other
towns previously taken by stonn, where both fire
and the hatchet had aided in the work of devasta-
tion.

The far-famed porcelain tower, however, did not
altogether escape unharmed. This is situated with-

<r^I-:5*^'»

THE PORCELAIN TOWER. 235

out the southern wall of the city ; its nine stories
rising to a height of two hundred and sixty-one
feet; its gilded and gaudy saloons being used as
Buddhist shrines ; its exterior being cased with slabs
of glazed porcelain, white, green, red, and yellow ;
the projecting roofs of its different stories being
covered with green tiles, and hung with one hun-
dred and fifty-two bells, and one hundred and twenty-
eight lamps ; and the whole structure surmounted
by a mast thirty feet high, which is surrounded by
an immense iron coil, having, from below, the ap-
pearance of rings, and is topped by a gilded ball.
The visitor, who mounts by the spiral stairway to
the summit, beholds, spread out before him, the
city with its walls, and empty spaces, the winding
river, and its islands, the plains, the hills, and the
mountains on a distant horizon ; while, on the other
hand, the foreign pilot, who, for the first time,
threads his devious way up, amid the shoals and
currents of the lower Yang-tsze-kiang, has, in the
glittering tower, a beacon, seen from almost as far
as is the white peak of Mont Blanc by the voyager
up the Rhone.

The tooth of time has gnawed in vain upon this
beautiful work of art for upwards of four hundred
years. Its polished surfaces, with seams almost in-
visible, repel the attacks of age and decay; and

236 TAI-PING^-WANG.

what the envious years have not been able to over-
throw has fortunately withstood the rage of fanatic
war, and the trial of fire. The God- worshiping con-
querors could only burn the images set in its niches ;
blackening, with their fires, the interior walls, and
leaving the ground around the base heaped up with
the fragments of the idols; but the fair form still
stands, externally undefaced, a monument of ancient
art, and not, like Melrose Abbey, for instance, of
modern fanaticism.

XL.

THE EXPEDITION AGAINST PEKING.

Tai-ping-wang entered Nanking with an army
estimated to contain between sixty and eighty thou-
sand men, about one-third of them being long-
haired brethren, or warriors who had come from
Kwang-si, and the others short-haired brethren,
who had joined his ranks on the march. This was
a force sufficient to enable him to hold possession of
the southern capital, spite of all attempts of the
Manchus to dislodge him, but still not great enough
to justify him in marching on Peking, with the in-
tention of laying seige to it.

He, therefore, determined not to run the risk of a
further general advance, but to establish himself in
the ancient seat of empire, and cut off the supplies
of grain sent to the northern capital by the way of
the grand canal. This was, in fact, apian for starv-
ing out the emperor ; or, at least, of so diminishing
the tribute of food and coin, annually sent to Peking,

238 TAI-PING-WANG.

as greatly to reduce the imperial resources, impair
the general prosperity of that portion of the empire,
and, thereby, produce such popular dissatisfaction
with the foreign dynasty, as to aid in its overthrow.
To carry out this plan of besieging Peking by
stopping its supplies, it was necessary to take pos-
session of the large city of Chin-kiang-fu, situated
below Nanking, at the point where the grand canal
is connected with the Yang-tsze-kiang. This place
was under the protection of Yung-wan-ting, the lieu-
tenant-governor of the province, who had so suddenly
gone to its defense from Nanking, when the latter
place was threatened by the insurgents, and who
now, on learning their intention of paying him a visit,
became equally solicitous for the safety of Keang-
yin, a town forty miles further eastward, to which
he straightway hastened. When, then, the detach-
ment, sent from Nanking to seize Chin-kiang-fu, ar-
rived there, its defender had run away, its garrison
had followed his example, and the place, including
a battery of three miles of guns along the river, was
taken without the firing of a shot. The possession
of this point, afterwards still more strongly fortified,*
gave the insurgents the control of what has been
well called the alimentary canal of the empire. No

* Compare Ho. of Reps. Doc, No. 123, XXXIIId Congress, 1st
Session, p. 142.

THE EXPEDITION AGAINST PEKING. 239

supplies could now reach Peking, except those con-
veyed from the southern ports by sea, and these
would be comparatively small.

At the same time, in order to harass the imperial-
ists, and threaten Peking, it was determined to send
considerable forces from Nanking to the North.
These, proceeding by the great western causeway,
crossed the Yellow River early in the summer;
** trespassed on the imperial domain" of Pih-chih-le ;
and, in the latter part of autumn, advanced within
less than a hundred miles of Peking.

It was in vain that the emperor called out his
Tsa-k'har horse, and his " myriads" of Tartars,
** very dapper fellows," all ; in vain that he rained
manifestoes on the land, declaring that " wherever
the celestial lance is pointed, it will not be difficult,
with a single roll of the drum, to exterminate the
rebels ;" in vain that he gave orders to his generals
that, when they defeated the long-haired and red-
jacketed thieves, special care should be taken that
they did not ** run northward." On the contrary,
that was just the direction in which they always
** fled." While the Tartar general was "jabbering
about the insufficiency of military weapons, horses,
and provender, and borrowing pretexts, from the
want of these, to excuse his running away, leaving
all his pots and pans, and camp-equipage behind,"

240 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

the "■ rampant banditti" were constantly pushing on
in the bad direction of Peking. " Those obstreper-
ous fellows,'* continued the emperor, ''are precipi-
tate in running into dangerous defiles, and uncom-
monly sudden in their appearance in different places,
so that wherever they pass both soldiers and people
are flurried, and thrown off their guard, which in-
duces them to remove from their abodes in the
utmost confusion, and involve themselves in misery
and ruin." Finally, the imperial capital itself took
the alarm ; and both officers and citizens were rep-
resented, in the court gazette, as being '* tumultu-
ously occupied" in removing, with bag and baggage,
into-the countr}\

Orders, therefore, were given for immediately re-
pairing the walls of the city ; especially was it
directed that every man should put his lantern in
order ; the magistrates were cautioned to look well
at the tablets on the doors of the houses ; and the
military commandant was instructed to consider
whether the only true method of defending the
place was not that laid down in a certain old and
long forgotten book, published in the time of the
Ming dynasty.

Meanwhile, as affairs went badly, numerous
memorials were sent in to the government, charg-
ing both the officers and magistrates, upon whom

THE EXPEDITION AGAINST PEKING. 241

fell the responsibility of exterminating the rebels,
with cowardice ; and praying that ** all these
fellows be brought to book." Hien-fung was only
too much disposed to grant their petitions. He
degraded his unsuccessful servants by scores, strip-
ping them of feathers and buttons without mercy ;
sent them into Tartary, to be put to hard labor,
though allowing them, provisionally, to be de-
tained, in order to assist in suppressing the re-
bellion ; and deposing the viceroy of Pih-chih-le —
which was the third viceroy sacrificed since the
commencement of the insurrection — he said of him,
in his decree, ** It is now several days that that
man has made no report of himself, and I cannot
think what he can be about, or where he is staying ;
it is, in fact, most extraordinary." Many, who were
not degraded, were sharply reprimanded ; one gene-
ral being told that, if he did not do better, he
would be treated as he already deserved to be
treated ; and anofher being reminded that there
was a blot on his military fame, which he would do
well to wipe off as speedily as possible.*

Still, amid all these royal complaints, and while
the ** obstreperous fellows without queues " were
constantly retreating towards Peking, the official

• Peking Gazette.
11

242 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

gazette recorded, from time to time, its great vic-
tories. Thousands of these same fellows were
slaughtered ; chiefs, in red caps and yellow jackets,
not a few, were cut up into small pieces ; guns,
matchlocks, jingalls, lanterns, umbrellas, flags, and
jackets were reckoned up among the spoils, until
their number could no longer be counted ; and the
god Kwan-te having several times interposed in
favor of the royal arms, a number of generals
united in a memorial to the throne, saying, ** It is
the stupid opinion of us, his majesty's slaves, that
a new title should be conferred on Kwan-te, and
that he should be elevated in the scale of sacrifices,
offered on state occasions."

This expedition of the insurgents into the pro-
vince of Pih-chih-le, however, was attended with
no very important effects, beyond that of terrifying
the imperialists, and showing that Hien-fung had
not the ability to take the field with any large
force.*

* Compare Ho. of Reps. Doc-, No. 123, p. 327.

XLI.

THE DEEDS OF HEANO-YUNQ AND KE-8HEN.

During the time a part of the insurgent forces
was proceeding northward, and threatening Peking,
more or less fighting was taking place in the
neighborhood of Nanking, and Chin-kiang.

The imperial generalissimo, Heang-yung, hovered
for a long time about the former city with a small
body of troops, or as the official gazette had it,
" with clouds of celestials." At one time, he re-
ported having taken a number of the rebel's stock-
ades ; at another, he had thrown stink-pots and
rockets into their camp, setting it on fire ; he had
driven the rascals, long-haired and short-haired, in
great numbers into the canals, and pushed them off
of bridges into the water, so that they were
drowned ; he had captured their tents and jingalls,
their spears and cartouche-boxes, their standards
and lanterns ; and he had, moreover, been well
seconded, both by the god Kwan-te and by

244 TAI-PING-WANG.

timely showers of rain, whereby, on several im-
portant occasions, the powder of the enemy had
been thoroughly soaked through. Whenever he
went out to battle, he sent before him a placard,
stuck high upon a pole, with the inscription on it
in large characters, "Avoid death!" This was rep-
resented as liaving produced great effect upon the
shorter-haired of the enemy. Another feat of his
consisted, as was currently reported, in driving
several hundred cows in at the different gates- of
Nanking, to see if there were not pit-falls and
ambuscades laid there ; whereupon, he discovered
that no harm happened to them, but they went
safely into the city !

Ileang-yung also offered a reward of one hundred
thousand taels to whomsoever should bring in alive
the leader of the insurrection, Hung-Siu-tshuen ;
fifty thousand for each of the pretended princes,
Yang-Siu-tsing, and Seaou-Chaou-kwei ; and double
the money to whomsoever should devise a method
for blowing up the fleet of the enemy, so as to
destroy their power at a single blow. At the same
time, "confessing that there was no superfluous
money in his camp-chests, he called loudly on all
good people to contribute towards defraying the
expenses of the war ; affirming that there were no
less than seventy thousand men then under arras,

THE DEEDS OF HEANG-YUNG AND KE-SHEN. 245

and that, according to the treasurer of the pro-
vince of Kiang-nan, there had been paid out for
their support, since the capture of Nanking, nearly
^ve and a half millions of taels. ** No matter,"
said he, " whether it be pure sycee, or the inferior
kind used in paying the salt-gabelle, or copper
cash, or foreign dollars ; you may just suit your
convenience as to the kind of coin contributed ;
only be quick about it.**

For all these exploits and good endeavors, general
Ileang-yung received from his master, in token of
his favor, an archer*s ring, ** with some poetry en-
graved on it," a holder for a peacock's feather, a
green-jade tobacco-box, and permission to wear a
yellow jacket when he went abroad.

Ke-shen, also, was in the field ; though he did not
so much distinguish himself. He would have taken
Yung-chow, only, "he was api»rehensive lest, if he
recovered the city, he would be put to some trouble
in pursuing the enemy, and, therefore, delayed the
attack." Afterwards, having breached the walls by
means of a gun weighing ten thousand catties, he
reported that he certainly should have captured the
place, had not general Shwang-le been struck down
by a musket-ball which knocked the teeth out of his
mouth ; and had not general Cliin-kin-suy, after
having mounted the walls by a ladder, been obliged

246 TAI-PING-WANG.

to get down again, because his soldiers would not fol-
low him. But these excuses did not satisfy the emper-
or, who ordered that Ke-shen, *' not having the least
ability to plan military operations, should be deprived
of his official rank, but kept at his post to do duty.**

Various fruitless attempts were made, also, by
the imperialists to recover possession of Chin-kiang-
fu, the key of the grand canal. They even reported
in the Royal Gazette that they had succeeded ; only,
** on account of the narrowness of the streets, the
general thought it more prudent to encamp outside
the barrier." The fact, however, was, that though
they, at one time, kept up a continual fire on the
town for three days, they made the attack from
such a prudent distance that their balls all fell
short; and not so much as a loose brick was shaken
out of the fortifications.

Finally, in their distress, some of the leading im-
perialists went on their knees before the ''stinking
foreign devils,*' and solicited the aid of their fire-
ships. Of these, the Chinamen entertain the most
extraordinary dread, especiajly of those which are
able, in consequence of their light draught of water,
to cruise above the submerged banks of the rivers
at the period of the inundations; and running for
dear life on the appearance of these strange visitors,
they exclaim, pointing behind over their shoulders.

THE DEEDS OF HEANG-YUNG AND KE-SHEN. 247

** See! ship walk-ie where man walk-ie !" But the
"stinking foreign devils" declined taking sides in
the contest between the two parties. All, there-
fore, that could be done, was, to purchase several
square-rigged vessels, at a high price, at Shang-
hai, which, armed and manned by a few " outside"
vagabonds, and joined by a number of Portuguese
lorchas, and Canton war-boats, were dispatched to
Keang-yin. But, although a reward of one hundred
taels was offered to the first vessel that should go
into action with the enemy, as many more for the
capture of a rebel junk, and one hundred thousand
for the destruction of the whole fleet, it turned out
that the " outsiders" were no more disposed to win
the rewards of war than the "long-tails," and
nothing was done by the allied armada beyond
burning, on one or two occasions, a considerable
amount of gun-powder.

Meanwhile, the insurgents having got the control
of the commerce of the Yang-tsze-kiang, and of the
grand canal, set diligently to work to fortify them-
selves in their principal strong-holds.

These lay principally on either side of the Yang-
tsze-kiang, between Chin-kiang and Wu-chang, a
distance of about five hundred miles; and were
Nanking and Chin-kiang, in the province of Kiang-
8u; Lu-chau, Ngan-king, T'hae-ping, Chi-chau, and

248 T AI-PI\G-\VANG.

Ning-kwoh, in the province of Ngan-hwui ; Kin-
kiang, Jan-chau, Ki-ngan, Hien-chang, and Wa-
ning, in the province of Kiang-si; Wu-chang, Han-
kau, Siang-tan, Han-yang, Hwang-chau, Hian-kan,
Ying-ching, Lin-chau, Ngan-luh, and Tsan-yang, in
the province of Hu-pe ; and Yoh-chau, Siang-yin,
and Ning-hiang, in the province of Hu-nan.

While engaged in strengthening these positions,
besides many others of less importance, the insur-
gents also took pains to make their rule acceptable
to the people, both by their acts and proclamations.
Of the latter, the following is a specimen :

" Yang, the eastern prince, generalissimo of the army, and prime
minister of State, as well aa religious instructor, and deliverer of the
people ; and Seau, the western prince, second minister of State, and
also generalissimo of the army ;

*' Both servants of the celestial dynasty of Tai-ping, which has
received the veritable decree of heaven to rule, together issue
the following proclamation to all classes of people, requiring them,
each and all, to follow, peaceably, their respective avocations.

"When the will of heaven is determined, the minds of men should
be compliant. Heaven having now produced the true sovereign to
rule the people, they ought to yield their minds to his renovating
influence. It is to he regretted that, ever since the Tartars have
thrown the Chinese empire into confusion, they have induced the
people to worship corrupt spirits, and to reject the true spirit, while
they rebel against God. They have, moreover, required the people
to assume the appearance of imps, and to divest themselves of the
human form ; by all which means, they have roused the vengeance
of high heaven. Besides this, they have oppressed our people, and
brought calamities on the living intelligences. They have made the
stiuk of their covetous practices to rise up to heaven, while they have
degraded literature to thfe very dust. The agricultural and mechan-

THE DEEDS OF HEANQ-YUXG AXD KE-SHEN. 249

ical classes have been distressed, every year experiencing greater
troubles ; while the mercantile classes, in coming and going, have
been Severely taxed at each barrier. Thus, all within tho four seas
are grieved in mind, and the inhabitants of the middle region look
on with indignant glance. We, the generals above-named, having
received the excellent decree of heaven, and being unable to endure
the spectacle of people ground down to the earth, have elevated the
righteous standard, with the view of exterminating the Tartar
hordes, and have marshaled the royal troops, in order to overcome
the wicked one. In every district through which we have passed,
the people have welcomed us as they would the seasonable showers ;
and, wherever our standards have appeared, the inhabitants have
felt as if they were delivered from the greatest calamity ; which
shows that the will of heaven is evidently on our side, and that the
minds of men incline toward us. Ever since we commenced this
great undertaking in the province of Kwang-si, the first ranks of
those who have come out against our royal troops have inverted their
weapons in indication of submission ; while those who have been in-
fluenced by the fear of heaven's majesty, have, on the first report of
our arrival, lost all heart for defending the enemy. Now, having
set up the new dynasty, we especially enjoin it on all living people
reverently to worship God, and set aside all corrupt spirits, in order
to gratify the mind of heaven, and obtain celestial blessedness. Let
the learned, agricultural, mechanical, and commercial classes vigor-
ously attend to their several employments. From the date of this
proclamation, let every one peacefully abide in his native /e^^ion,
and contentedly follow his usual avocation. Our virtuous soldiers
will not touch an atom of their property, so that there is no need for
the least apprehension. Let traders proceed to their markets with-
out fear, looking for a speedy revival of the country. On this ac-
count, we issue our special proclamation, in order to quiet the honest
inhabitants. Let this be circulated throughout the empire for the in-
formation of all, so that every one may reverently obey. Do not
oppose.

"A special proclamation, given in the third year of the celestial
dynasty of Tai-ping, on the first day of the fifth moon (June GLh,
1853)."*

• Medhurst.

XLII.

THE TAI-PINO THEOCRACY.

The government established in Nanking does not
differ essentially from that originally set up at
Yung-ngan. It is a military theocracy. Tai-ping-
wang, who is generally mentioned by the title of
Celestial King, is the absolute master of his follow-
ers, and the pretended lord of both China and the
whole world besides.

He is in direct intercourse with heaven, and
seldom shows himself to his fellow-mortals. From
time to time, both the Heavenly Father, and Jesus,
the Heavenly Elder Brother, come down to earth
to give him directions respecting the management
not only of the affairs of the empire, but of the
most petty concerns of the royal household.

The will of the celestial king, therefore, is the
will of heaven ; and the slightest acts of disobedi-
ence are liable to be punished with immediate
death ; while obedience is followed with honor in

THE TAI-PING THEOCRACY. 261

this life, and eternal happiness in the life to
come.

The subordinate kings, who are his ministers,
share with him in the monopoly of divine inspira-
tion. This is true more especially of Yang, the
eastern king, and prime minister, who has, in some
instances, gone great lengths in carrying out the
Chinese adage, that " Wood is made straight by the
carpenter's line, and princes are rendered correct
by the subject's reproof;" while the celestial king,
on the other hand, has displayed no less readiness
to follow the corresponding practice of the Chinese
emperors, of publicly proclaiming, and atoning for
their own faults.

The theocratic machinery of the new imperial
government is well illustrated in the following
account, taken from official documents, of a descent
of the Heavenly Father, and of his revelations to
Yang:*

The eastern prince, one day, addressed the celestial king, saying :
'' Not long ago the heavenly Father came down into the world, at
my palace, commanding mc, your younger brother, and certain
others, to come to court, and report to your majesty, our second
elder brother."

The celestial king then inquired, "Brother Tsing, what were the
commands delivered by our Heavenly Father ?"

The eastern prince replied, '-The sacred will of our Heavenly

• Not© I, Appendix

252 TAI-PI.VG-WANG.

Father was to command you, our second elder brother, to instruct
our young master* more assiduously and properly, in order that
every word and action, motion and rest, may be in accordance with
the rules. You are not to allow him to do as he pleases. For
instance, when our Heavenly Father sends down rain, and our
young master wants to go out for a walk, were you to allow him to
do as he pleases, he would get wet ; therefore, in this respect, he
must be restrained ; but when the weather is fine, he may go out for
a walk.

*' The Heavenly Father further lold mc, your younger brother, to
inform you, my second elder brother, that if the female officers com-
mit any trifling fault, you should l>e indulgent towards them, and
instruct them. You are also to be gentle towards them, lest they
should get frightened. For instance, when a ditch or canal has to
be dug, you must not make the females work as if they were build-
ing a city or a camp ; and if the weather should be unfavorable,
with rain or snow falling, they should be allowed to rest for awhile,
and not made to dig during the continuance of frost and snow. If
you comfort them in this way, they will be contented and happy,
and, feeling grateful for your kindness, they will exert themselves
in serving you. so that you will get all your work completed.

•' The old saying has it, ' The prince should employ his subjects
according to propriety, and their subjects will serve their prince
according to fidelity.' You, my second elder brother, have ascended
up to the high heavens, and, therefore, you ought certainly to be
thoroughly acquainted with all matters of a celestial nature. But
these female officers are originally women, with a very circumscribed
amount of information. How should they be perfectly familiar with
celestial principles? On common occasions, when they see you, my
second elder brother, in front of the palace, the female officers, get-
ting a glance of your royal visage, can hardly avoid making mis-
takes in what they do, so as to excite your just displeasure ; on
which account they are always in a state of alarm. Even male
officers, when they come to do anything in front of the hall, are by
no means at their ease. For instance, our younger brother, Wei-
ching, when he was once in front of your palace, managing some

• Tai-ping-wanif's mn, and the lioir apparent.

THE TAl-PIXG THEOCRACY. 253

affair, felt a certain degree of alarm, and did not dare to speak too
much : how much more these female officers, when they come into
your presence ?"

The eastern prince also addressed the sovereign, saying, " When
the officers, whether male or female, commit any crime that is
worthy of death, it rests with you, my second elder brother, in
obedience to the celestial law, to put them to death, in order to sus-
tain the majesty of the Divine law, and to deter future offenders.
But, in my humble opinion, supposing the offenders to have committed
something worthy of death, there may be still some circumstances in
the case not very clear ; and if you hastily put them to death, you
may someiimes do wrong. Let me presume, therefore, to offer &
suggestion, which is : that whenever among the officers, male or
female, any persons commit a capital crime, I should earnestly
entreat you, my second elder brother, of your superabundant favor,
to hand over the case to mo, your unworthy younger brother, for
careful examination as to the circumstances which led to the com-
misiiion of the crime ; and if I meet with any extenuating considera
ttons, I will supplicate you, in your gracious compansion, to pass
over the offense. But if it should appear that the parties have
really committed a grievous offense, that cannot be forgiven, I will
report to you. my second elder brother, that you may determine the
case. In this way there will probably be no cases of unredressed
grievances; and the justice and benevolence of you, my second elder
brother, will be equally displayed, while both rewards and punish-
ments will be properly administered. I do not know whether this
suggestion will meet your views, but I beseech you of your clemency
to inform me."

The celestial king then said: "That which you, my younger
brother, have said, is very right, and is truly in accordance with the
benevolent feeling displayed by our Heavenly Father, who loves
what is good and hates what is evil, while he carefully discrimi-
nates between the one and the other. The disposition displayed I»y
me, your elder brother, is impetuous; and if you, my youn;?er bro-
ther, had not made this suggestion, it is to be feared that I should
have wrongfully put some persons to death ; now, in consequence
of your advice, not only shall I be prevented from wrongfully m-
flicting condign punishment, but future generations, observing this*,

254 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

our example, will not dare to do anything rashly. From hence-
forth, therefore, I. your elder brother, will, in every case, consult
with you, my younger brother, before I proceed to act. It will have
the effect, also, of inducing future princes to imitate their prede-
cessors, and consult with virtuous ministers before they decide on
action, by which means they may possibly prevent mistakes."

The celestial king further s;iid : "When I formerly ascended up
to the height of heaven, I found that the disposition of our celestial
Papa was rather impetuous, although his liberality was as deep as
the boundleas ocean. And to-day our Heavenly Father has given
himself the trouble to come down into our world, and ordered that
I, your second elder brother, should be beaten, on account of the
extreme nnrrown'^ss of my mind.''

Thereupon the eastern prince said, ''The disposition which you,
my second elder brother, possess, is just that which our Heavenly
Father has caused you to be born with ; and when a son imitates bis
father's disposition, it can scarcely be considered an instance of nar-
rowness of mind. Do you just set your mind at ea-se, and sit down
in the enjoyment of the heavenly kingdom, which it is to be hoped
will be of a perpetual duration.''

Having finished these observations, the eastern and northern
princes, together with all the officers, knelt down,- and then exclaim-
ed : " May the king live forever !" after which the court broke up,
and they all retired from the palace gate.

The northern prince and the various officers then escorted the
eastern prince to his palace ; arrived at which place, the eastern
prince ascended his hall of audience, while all the officers knelt down,
exclaiming, " May the prince enjoy abundant longevity!''

The eastern prince then addressed them, saying, "I, the general,
having this day announced the sacred will of our Heavenly Father
to our lord and master, the second elder Brother, I should like to
know whether or not I was correct in so doing ?"'

The northern prince and all the officers replied, "You, the eastern
prince, merely announced the sacred will of our Heavenly Father,
every sentence of which was in accordance with the mind of hea-
ven ; how could it be otherwise than right?"'

The eastern prince then said. " Mind, then, all you officers, when-
ever a superior is in the wrong, yon that are inferior should straight-

THE TAI-PING THEOCRACY. 265

way inform him of it, without hesitation. Should I, for instance,
fall into an error, you should immediately represent it to me.' ' The
oflBcers all said, " We will do as you say."

The northern prince and all the officers then knelt down, crying
out, " May your highness enjoy considerable longevity ! we pray you
to retire into your inner palace and enjoy repose." Having said
which, all the officers left the eastern palace and retired to their
respective places of abode.*

• Note J, Appendix,

XLIII.

THE INSIKGENT CREED.

There is no god but God ; and Tai-ping-wang is
the younger brother of Jesus — such, in brief, is the
creed of the insurgents.

They liave renounced tlie worship of idols, and of
their ancestral manes, and they adore, instead, Tien-
fu, the Heavenly Father of Christianity. "Thou
shalt honor and worship the great God," is their
rendering of the first conimanduient. And in their
comment on it, they say, " Tiie great God is the
universal Father of all men in ever}' nation under
heaven. Every man is produced and nourished by
Him ; every man is also protected by Him ; every
man ought, therefore, morning and evening, to
worship him with acknowledgments of His good-
ness."

Jesus is worshiped by them as their celestial
elder brother, the first-born of the Father ; but is
regarded as inferior to Him in dignity, inasmuch as

THE INSURGENT CREED. 257

he is his son. ** Even the Saviour Jesus, the first-
born son of God," it is said in one of their books,
"is only called our Lord. In heaven above and
earth beneath, as well as among men, none can be
considered greater than Jesus ; and yet Jesus was
not called Te.*' This is a title which, from the
earliest times, has been applied to the emperor, as
the highest of potentates ; but the insurgents make
use of it only when speaking of the Heavenly
Vather.

The Christian doctrine of human depravity lies at
the foundation of the religious belief of the insur-
gents. They acknowledge that they have sinned
against the great God, and they hope to be forgiven
on repenting of their misdeeds, and obeying the or-
ders of the Tai-ping-wang dynasty. Those who fall
in battle are promised, by the chiefs, a direct trans-
lation into a heaven of ever-during felicity ; while
those who fly from the enemy, or transgress the
commands of their superiors, will be doomed to the
pains of an eternal hell.

The idea of an atonement made for the sins of the
world by Jesus, the celestial elder brother, appears
in many of the writings of the insurgents ; but it is
not probable that they have any very clear under-
standing of this doctrine. When they speak of
Jesus, as the Saviour of mankind, it is not in the

25S TAI-PING-WANG.

sense generally attached to these words by Chris-
tians ; Tai-ping-wang, though his younger brother,
being regarded as scarcely less a deliverer.

Their views of practical religion are summed up,
in one of their books, in this wise : "Who has ever
lived in the world without offending against the
commands of heaven ? But until this time no one
has known how to obtain deliverance from sin.
Now, however, the great God has made a gracious
communication to man, and from henceforth who-
ever repents of his sins in the presence of the great
God, and avoids worshiping false gods, practicing
perverse things, or transgressing the divine com-
mands, may ascend to heaven, and enjoy happiness
for thousands and myriads of years, in pleasure and
delight, with dignity and honor, world without end.
But, whoever does not repent of his sins in the pre-
sence of the great God, but continues to worship
false gods, practicing perverse things as before, and
going on to transgress the divine commands, will
most certainly be punished by being sent down into
hell, and suffering misery for thousands and myriads
of years, in sorrow and pain, with trouble and
anguish, world without end. Which of these is the
best, and which is the worst, we leave it to you to
judge."

In the brotherhood of the God-worshipers there

THE INSURGENT CREED. 269

are no prophets or priests, save Tai-ping-wang and
his ministers, the five kings. There is no church
separate from the state. Those who join the insur-
gents go through a certain form of baptism ; but
there is no other sacrament known among them.
Of baptism, the notion entertained is, that it is a
means of removing the guilt and stain of sin ; so
that the more thoroughly the act is performed, the
more effectual is it. " When the prayer is over,"
8ay8 their ritual, "let the person to be received into
the brotherhood take a basin of water, andfwash him-
self clean ; or, if he perform his ablutions in a river,
it will be still better."

The Christian Bible has been put into the hands
of the insurgents ; and portions of it have been re-
published.* But the moral and religious writings
of the insurgent chiefs, both in prose and verse, are
also received as inspired scriptures, and ^re more
generally, circulated among them. They possess,
however, several forms of prayer and doxologies, de-
rived from Protestant missionaries, which are in
common use ; and every person is taught the Ten
Commandments given by God to the ancient He-
brews. Of these their interpretation is extremely
rigid. They say, for example, *' The casting of

♦ The first twenty-eight chapters of the Book of Genesis. See
HooBe of Reps. Doc., No. 123, p. 147.

260 ' TAI-PING-WANQ.

amorous glances, the harboring of lustful imagina-
tions, the smoking of opium, and the singing of
libidinous songs must all be considered as vjolations
of the seventh commandment." For adultery and
opium-smoking the penalty is death ; and. strings of
heads, seen hanging at the corners of the streets in
Nanking by foreign visitors, testify to the strictness
with which the law is executed. Gambling, also,
and even the common use of wine and tobacco, are
prohibited.

The insurgents observe one day in seven as a
Sabbath ; but, by an astronomical error, this falls on
Saturday. On this day homilies are delivered to the
people by the chiefs, or others thereto appointed ;
hymns are sung; prayers are read; and sacrifices are
offered of animal food, wine, tea, and rice. During
the chanting of the hymns, the worshipers sit; and
they kneel during prayers. There is also public
religious service twice every day, besides the offer-
ing of short petitions at meals. The forms of prayer
for these occasions, as well as for many extraordi-
nary ones, as at funerals, on birth-days, and in time
of sickness, were derived from the Protestant mis-
sionaries ; and are, in several instances, addressed to
the Trinity. It is not to be supposed, however,
that they have any true comprehension of this
Christian mystery ; inasmuch as the title of Holy

THE INSURGENT CREED. 261

Ghost has been — ignorantly, it is to be presumed,
not blasphemously — conferred on Yang, the prime*
minister.

Astrology, necromancy, witchcraft, and the art
of divination — all in such vogue with the Chinese,
both learned and unlearned — are entirely discarded
by the God-worshipers. Instead of the old impe-
rial almanac, which noted the character of every
day in the year, as lucky or unlucky, and, therefore,
suitable or unsuitable for the performance of such
common acts of life as marriage, burial, laying the
foundations of a building, or setting out on a jour-
ney, they have adopted a new calendar, from which
all this nonsense of superstition is excluded. In the
preface to this new almanac, the five kings, in mak-
ing report of their work to Tai-ping-wang, say,
"All the corrupt doctrines and perverted views of
preceding almanacs are the result of the devil's cun-
ning devices, to deceive and delude mankind. We,
your majesty's subjects, have, therefore, set them
aside. For the years, months, days, and hours are
all determined by our Heavenly Father. Thus,
every year is lucky and favorable, every month is
lucky and favorable, and every day as well as every
hour is lucky and favorable. How can they be clas-
sified as good and bad, and what can be the use of
selecting one period above another ? Whoever truly

262 TAI-PING-WANG.

venerates our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord,
and the great God, is under the protection of Hea-
ven, and can engage in his duties whenever he
thinks proper. Every season, therefore, may be
considered as prosperous and favorable."*

* Notes K and L, Appendix.

XLIV.

THE NEW CELESTIAL STATE.

The new celestial state, established at Nanking by
Tai-ping-wang, is similar in its organization to that
of his army. Every phalanx has attached to it a
large number of officials; for example, two dividers
of land, two dispensers of the laws, superintendents
of money and grain, two accountants for weights, and
two for disbursements. There are also officers spe-
cially appointed to register the births and deaths, as,
also, others to make note of the cases of promotion
and degradation among officials. Over every five
persons is placed a cinquevir, whose duty it is, alike,
to lead them against the enemy whenever they are
engaged in military service, and, in time of peace, to
overlook them in the practice of husbandry and the
trades. These, and all other subordinate officers,
report their doings to their superiors next in grade,
who, in turn, do the same to others placed over
them, until, finally, all transactions are brought to

264 TAI-PING-WANG.

the knowledge of the chief ministers of state. The
land, which is considered as belonging to the celes-
tial king, is divided into portions called mows, being
about the sixth of an acre, and which are distributed
into nine classes, according to their productiveness.
Each family has a certain extent of ground assigned
it for cultivation, the size of which depends on the
number and age of the merabersi ** Having fields,"
say the celestial regulations, '• let them cultivate
them together ; and, when they get any rice, let
them eat it together ; so, also, with regard to clothes
and money, let them use them in common, so that
every one may share and share alike, and every one
be equally well fed and clothed."

It is ordered that, throughout the empire, the mul-
berry-tree be planted close to every wall, so that
the women may have silk for making garments.
Every family is required to keep as many as five hens
and two sows ; and care must be taken that they do
not " miss their proper season for procreation." At
the time of harvest it is the duty of an officer, called
a vexillary, to see that the five and twenty families
under his charge have a sufficient supply of food ;
and any superfluity of " wheat, pulse, hemp, flax,
I cloth, silk, fowls, dogs, and money" must be
brought to the public store-house. "For," say the
regulations, " the whole empire is the universal

THE NEW CELESTIAL STATE. 265

family of our Heavenly Father, the great God, and
supreme Lord ; and when all the people in the em-
pire avoid selfishness, and consecrate everything to /
the supreme Lord, then the sovereign will havei
suflScient to use, and all the families of the empire,
in every place, will be equally provided for, while
every individual will be well fed and clothed. This
is what our Heavenly Father, the great God, and/
supreme Lord, has especially commanded the truel
sovereign of the Tai-ping dynasty, with the view of
saving the whole world." »

la every circle of twenty-five families there must
be a public granary and a church ; and on the occur-
rence of a marriage or birth, the vexillary allots to
the family in which these events take place one
thousand cash and one hundred pounds of grain, and
also offers, in the place of the former supersti-
tious ceremonies, an eucharistical sacrifice to the
Heavenly Father, the great God, and supreme
Lord.

It is also the duty of the vexillary to see that the
children go daily to church for the purpose of being
taught by him to read the Sacred Scriptures, together
with the imperial proclamations ; and, on Sunday,
each cinquevir is required to conduct the men and
women under his charge to the place of public wor-
ship. There, sitting males and females in separate
12

266 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

rows, they are to attend upon the services of preach-
ing, praying, and giving thanks to God.

The vexillary, moreover, is to see that all diligent
I husbandmen are rewarded, and the idle punished;
and, in cases of strife, provision is made that the
subject of dispute may be carried by appeal from
the decision of the vexillary up to that of the higher
officers of state, even to the celestial king himself.

All persons, both those in office and those out,
are to be kept under close supervision by whoever
stands next above them in authority, reports of the
good or bad conduct of each person being sent up
from time to time to the chiefs of the state. Those
who behave themselves well, whatever their sphere
of life, are to be rewarded with honors and offices,
descending in most instances to their posterity;
while the idle and the lawless are to be punished
with degradation, and even with death.

Special seasons in each year are designated for
the purpose of filling all vacancies in office ; when
the various reports of conduct, before mentioned,
are made, and when the candidates are subjected to
a series of examinations by those in authority, with
the view of testing their worthiness and capability.
And once in three years, similar examinations are to
be held for degrading from, and promoting in, office,
at which time, the subordinates are allowed to de-

THE NEW CELESTIAL STATE. 267

nounce all acts of wrong-doing on the part of their
superiors.

Such are the main features of this system of
despotic centralization, raised on the basis of com-
munism. Like the old imperial organization, it is
one of complete governmental surveillance and in-
terference, utterly inconsistent with individual lib-
erty, but one also in which the numerous offices of
state are, in theory at least, given only to the meri-
torious, and those whose talent has passed the
ordeal of a succession of examinations. It is a plan
to make all men virtuous, but to do it by compul-
jBion ; to supply all with the necessaries of life,
though without permitting them the possession of
anything besides ; and to secure the benefits of indus-
try, good order, and general comfort, at the expense
of all high culture and genial enjoyment of life.*

* Compare " The Land Regulations and Political Economy of the
Celestial Dynasty," published in the Kwei-haou, or third year of the
celestial dynasty of Tai-ping (1853).

XLV.

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGN NATIONS.

Attempts have been made within the last two
or three years, by commissioners of the English,
French, and American governments, to place them-
selves in direct communication with the insurgent
authorities in Nanking. But although they suc-
ceeded in passing up the Yang-tsze-kiang in steam-
vessels of war to the " Celestial Capital," and in
holding intercourse with the subordinate officials,
they all failed of obtaining audience of the new em-
peror. Besides the fact that their visits to Nanking
are looked upon with some degree of suspicion,
from their known sympathy for the imperialists,
Tai-ping-wang has adopted the policy of having
nothing to do at present with foreigners, as he will
not with the society of the Triads, who for a time
held possession of Amo)^ and Shang-hai, or with* the
confederated bands who have overrun the country
around Canton. He is disposed to deal only with

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGN NATIONS. 269

Hien-fung, and to keep all other parties out of the
field, if possible, until the great question of suprema-
cy between himself and his rival shall have been
settled. Then it will be time enough to consider
what shall be the relations of the regenerate empire
with the nations "outside the wall."

The determined war of extermination hitherto
waged by the God- worshiping dynasty against that
drug, the importation of which into the empire is
enriching some of the commercial classes of the West
to the utter ruin of the Chinese race, bodies and souls,
would seem to betoken the existence of no disposition
at Nanking favorable to intercourse with foreign na-
tions.* But, on the other hand, the religious, not to
say Christian, character of the new regime, together
with the doctrine promulgated by it of an universal
brotherhood among men, may be relied upon with
some degree of confidence, as indicative of the near
approach of the reign of more just and liberal senti-
ments on the subject of foreign trade and intercourse.
Certain it is that the Europeans and Americans,
who have recently ascended the Yang-tsze-kiang,
were unusually well received by both the people and
tlie subordinate magistrates. When it was known
that their religious books corresponded with those of

• Compare Ho. of Reps. Doc, No. 123, pp. 177, 311.

270 TAI-PING-WANG.

the God- worshipers, they were saluted as " foreign
brethren." In some instances aged and respectable
men fell down upon their knees in the streets before
them, to do them reverence ; their ships were
thronged by multitudes, whose politeness was equal-
ed only by their good-humor ; and they noticed an
entire absence of those abusive and obscene forms
of speech which so constantly foul the mouths of
the rabble of Canton.

Still, it is understood that the communications
addressed to the foreign commissioners, who went
up to Nanking, were all of that arrogant and super-
cilious stamp, of old characteristic of the Chinese
court in its intercourse with the representatives of
the occidental governments. They set up the pre-
tension that the ** celestial king" is the lord of the
whole world, and require all nations and tribes of
men to lay their tribute of homage at his feet.

Such, at least, are the high notions set forth in a
mandate sent to Captain Buchanan, of the United
States steam-frigate Susquehanna; which vessel,
having on board Mr. Commissioner McLane, as-
cended the river to Nanking, and sixty or seventy
miles above, in the month of May, 1853. This docu-
ment came, indeed, from officers of subordinate
rank, and may possibly not express the views of so
intelligent a personage as the " celestial king," him-

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGN NATIONS. 271

self. In both style and sentiment, it is thoroughly
Chinese, and is as follows :

"a MAXDXTORT dispatch to BUCHANAN, OP THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA.

" Sin and Loo, honored with the meritorious rank of earthly magis-
tracy, holding the oflBce of first and second ministers of state, of the
second class, promoted two degrees, send this mandatory dispatch to
Buchanan, of the United States of America, for his full informa-
tion.

" Whereas the Heavenly Father, and the Heavenly Elder Brother,
have greatly displayed their favor, and personally commanded our
sovereign, the Celestial King, to come down, and be the peaceful
and tnie sovereign of the world, and have also put the (five) kings
to be assistants in the court, and strong supports in the establish-
ment of a flourishing government :

*' Now, therefore, when this city, the Celestial capital, has been es-
tablished and built up by the sovereign authority of the Heavenly
Father, and the Heavenly Elder Brother, it is the very time that all
nations should come, and pay courtly honors, and all the four seas
advance to receive instruction.

" From you, Buchanan, there has been received a public document, \
in which a desire is expressed to come and see the eastern king's ,
golden face ; but we, the ministers of state, on reading what is con- 1
taincd therein, find that you have presumed to employ terms, etc., ,
used in correspondence with equals.

*' This is not at all in conformity with what is right. Because oar '
eastern king (may he live nine thousand years) has respectfully re-
ceived the Celestial commands to come into the world, and to be the
assistant of the Celestial court in drawing together the living souls
of all nations, you, who reside on the ocean's borders, and are alike
imbued with favors, ought to come kneeling, and make memorials,
thus conforming to the principles of true submission, so as to show
your sincerity in coming to pay court.

" But we, the ministers of state, having examined this communica-
tion, have not submitted it to the golden glance of the eastern

272 TAI-PING-WANG.

king, lest we should excite the anger of the golden glance, and
draw on ourselves no light criminality.

'• Kindly keeping in mind, however, that you are residents on the
ocean's borders, and have not known the rights and ceremonies of
the Celestial court, indulgence [for the past] may be granted ; but
henceforth, as is right, you mist conform to the established rules,
and make respectful memorial.

" With regard to the favor of the Heavenly Father, and the Hea-
venly Elder Brother, displayed in opening and awakening your
minds so as to induce you to come to the true sovereign, and to be
near to the Celestial capital, all this you have obtained as a mani-
festation of the grace of the Heavenly Father, and Heavenly Elder
Brother, and it is also your happiness.

" The truly submissive, however, most assuredly will prepare rare,
excellent, and precious things, and come and offer them in honor of
the king, in this manner showing that you understand the mind of,
heaven.

" Now, because the Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord, the August
High Ruler, is the only one true God, the Father of the souls of
all nations under heaven, and Jesus, the Saviour of the world, the
Celestial Elder Brother, is the Supreme elder brother of all men of
all nations under heaven, and our sovereign, the Celestial King, ia
the peaceful and true sovereign of all nations under heaven, there-
fore, all nations under heaven ought to reverence heaven, and to
obey the sovereign, knowing on whom it is they depend. We are,
indeed, much afraid that you do not yet fully understand the things
of heaven, imagining that there are distinctions, as of this nation
and of that nation, not knowing the oneness of the true sovereign.

" Therefore, we end this especial mandatory dispatch.

" If you do, indeed, respect heaven, and recognize the sovereign,
then our Celestial court, viewing all under heaven as one family,
and uniting all nations as one body, will most assuredly regard
your faithful purpose, and permit you, year by year, to bring tri-
bute, and annually come to pay court, so that you may become the
ministers of people of the Celestial kingdom, for ever bathing your-
selves in the gracious streams of the Celestial dynasty, peacefully
residing in your own lands, and, living quietly, enjoy great glory.

" This is the sincere desire of us, the great ministers.

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGN NATIONS. 273

" Quickly ought you to conformto, and not oppose, this mandatory!
dispatch. I

" Twenty-fourth day of the fourth month, of the fourth year of
the great Peaceful Celestial Dynasty (May 30th, 1854)."
12*

XLVI.

PROBABLE ISSUE OF TOE INSURRECTION.

The result of this contest for empire between
Tai-ping-wang and Hien-fung, cannot, at present,
be foreseen. Still, considering, on the one hand,
the succession of disgraces and disasters which have
befallen the imperial arms since the commencement
of the insurrection, it would seem to be improbable
that the Tartar should ever recover possession of the
southern capital of his empire ; and, on the other,
the career of the God-worshiper has been through-
out marked with such superior sagacity, and at-
tended with such uninterrupted good fortune, as
naturally encourages the belief that he will succeed
in gradually diminishing the resources, and finally
subverting the dominion of his rival.

The struggle may, indeed, be continued for a con-
siderable number of years to come; the Chinese
civil wars having generally been of long duration.
But should the great towns on the coast be captured.

PROBABLE ISSUE OF THE INSURRECTIOX. 275

either by the God-worshipers, the Triads, or the
banditti, the imperial supplies being then cut off by
the coast, as they are already by the grand canal,
the northern portion of the empire could scarcely
fail of becoming disaffected, and Peking of being, in
a measure, impoverished.

That the insurgents may become divided among
themselves is, of course, possible. But their una-
nimity hitherto is no sign of future discord. On the
contrary, they seem to be a perfectly compact body,
animated with but one spirit, and controlled by one
will. They are, also, led on by a mind the most
gifted, perhaps, which has illustrated the annals of
China since the days'of Confucius ; a mind of strong
convictions, steady purposes, and of indomitable
energy; a mind which has inspired the hordes of the
insurrection with its own heroism, has kept them in
perfect subjection, and has led them from Kwang-si
to Nanking in an uninterrupted march of triumph,
to be paralleled only by the conquests of the great-
est captains of the East. As long as the originator
of the movement lives, his followers can hardly be
expected to become disunited ; though, in case of
an early decease, the succession of his son, Yow-chu-
wan-soy, the heir-apparent, and so-called " third
elder brother," might well be doubted.

What is to be regarded as most probable, per-

276 TAI-PING-WAXG.

haps, is, that the nations of the West will finally
interfere in this war of the two dynasties, and throw
the weight of their swords into one scale or the
other. The time for breaking down the great wall
of partition, which has so long excluded from the
Chinese millions the civilization of the West, can-
not be far off; for the commercial nations of Europe
and America are getting tired of waiting, like beg-
gars, at the gates of this haughty Asiatic, who sets
himself in opposition to the common law of the
world, and the will of Providence. Already Russia
has moved down from the north on the river Amour,
taking possession of a vast territory ; and the strife
for dominion, which was so lately raging in East-
ern Europe, may, sooner than is generally antici-
pated, be revived, and extended to the "central
flowery plains," where alone it can find its ultimate
solution.

A.PFENDIX

NOTE A.

ExTBACT of a letter of Mgr. Bizzolati, Apostolical Vicar of Hou-
Kwang ; Janoary 28th, 1853 ; published in the Annals of the
Propagation of the Faith ; No. 149, p. 287. (Translated from the
French.)

** The rebels of China have nothing in common with the idolatry
which eictends throughout the empire and the adjacent king-
doms. Wherever they arrive, they overthrow and destroy, to their
very foundations, the temples of the idols. They mutilate, tread
under foot, and crush to powder the gods so much venerated by
the people. Nor are the monasteries of the bonzes and bonzesses
spared. After having sacked and demolished their convents, the
insurgenU promenade their divinities in masquerade, and make a
complete carnival of their idols and other objects of superstition."

278 TAI-PING-WANG.

NOTE B.

Several yeafs later, when Sia-tfihaen had set ap his throne in
the ancient capital of the empire, he addressed a letter to Mr.
Roberts, offering to return at Nanking the favors he had formerly
received at Canton. This communication, though from political
considerations, as is believed, it has never been made public, is
referred to in the following letter from Mr. Roberts to Mr. Com-
missioner Marshall, propounding certain questions, which were
afterwards answered by the Commissioner in the negative :

« Canton, May 30, 1853.

" Dear Sir : — The other day Dr. Happer saw a letter in the
hands of natives, addressed to my place, and said to be from
Nanking. Since that I have received a letter — though not
thought to be the same — purporting to be from Hung- Sue- Tstten,
the chief Tai-ping-wan, or prince of peace. I showed this letter to
Dr. Parker, who is acquainted with official sealed documents, and
he thinks it genuine. Hung-Sue-Tsuen's name is plain, and
signed in full at the close, and stamped with a seal having on its
face six ancient characters, which, plainly written in modern and
translated, amount to * Tienteh (Tai-ping-wan's device), the prince
of peace's seal.'

/" This letter refers to our former acquaintanceship, and the deep
impressions remaining on his mind from the instructions received ;

APPENDIX. 279

states that he has frequently written to me, but knows not
whether his letters have been received. It states that several pro-
vinces have come under his control ; that myriads of men assemble
morning and evening for worship, who observe the ten heavenly
commandments, but few of them are versed in Gospel doctrines.
The letter invites me * to come and assist, that the Gospel may be
made plain, baptism (immersion) may be received, and the truth
published.'

" Now, having maturely considered this matter, and believing,
from what I know of the case, that it would be difiBcult to occupy
a more important or useful station, I feel inclined to go to him at
the earliest practicable moment ; therefore, I beg leave to propose
the following inquiries to you in your official capacity :

" 1. Would it be against the law of nations, or would I subject
myself to the censure of our own laws, to go to him immediately,
in the capacity of a minister of the Gospel, merely to preach to
him and his followers the unsearchable riches of Christ ?

" 2. If so, at what state of his progress would it bo allowable ?

" 3. Should the insurgents take the city of Canton, and send for
me to go into the city and preach to them, would I not be allowed
to go?

" I hope you will favor me with replies to these official inquiries
at your earliest convenience, and much oblige

" Yours, truly,

"J.J.ROBERTS.

" Hon. B. Marshall,

"United States Commissioner."

280 TAI-PING-WANG.

NOTE C.

Extract of a letter from Mgr. Bizzolati, Vicar-apostolic of
Hou-Kwang, to the members of the Central Councils of Lyons and
Paris ; dated Hong-Kong, August 4th, 1853. (Translated from
the Italian, and published in the Annals of the Propagation of the
Faith, vol. xv.)

" They (the insurgent kings) have placed all the resources in a
common treasury, and reorganized society on a new plan, that is,
in groups of twenty-five persons. Each family, thus constituted,
is formed of a certain number of persons of both sexes, who are
prohibited from cohabiting together, under the most severe
penalties. This rule is to be observed until the whole of China
shall have been conquered. All honorary titles are abolished,
except those of officers in the army. The men are to adopt the
appellation of brothers, and the women that of sisters. Each
family has two chiefs; a man for the government of the male
members, and a woman for the females ; and over all these
individual dignitaries a hierarchy is established, comprising
general presidents of both sexes. All these confraternities live in
common, at the expense of the public treasury ; and all of them
are bound to perform military service, the men under the com-
mand of a male leader, and the women under that of a female ; for
there arc captains of both sexes. After the conquest of the
empire, the families, whose military services may no longer be

APPENDIX. 281

deemed necessary, are to return to their cities, where there is to be
no distinction of rich and poor, but perfect equality. However,
according to the laws of their communism, the king, the princes,
and generals are to have the exclusive right of possession and
acquisition, and the subalterns are to remain in the service of
their chiefs, and to receive, in reward for these services, such food
and clothing as the generosity of their masters may induce them
to bestow.*'

TAI-PING-WANG.

NOTE D.

" United States Consulate, Shanghai,
"/anuary 28, 1853.-

" Sib : — I have the honor to address you with such information as
I can obtain regarding the internal troubles of this country, pre-
suming that it is my duty to report upon any matters which may
afifect the relations existing between it and the United States, or
the interests of American citizens.

" No intelligence can be obtained from the Chinese oflBcers with
whom I come in contact, which can be relied upon ; and I take my
information from private letters received by Chinese merchants
from their correspondents in the disturbed provinces.

" Letters from Hankhow, a town of great trade on the Yang-tsze-
kiang, about 300 miles to the westward of Nanking, state that the
rebels have gained much ground, and that their chance is good for
ultimately obtaining Nanking, where they would crown an emperor
of Chinese race.

" The government troops are few and badly conunanded, and only
succeed in making a stand in the strongest of the walled towns.
The treasuries of the various provinces are said to be completely
bankrupt, and the government in straits for money for the ordinary
purposes of state. This, perhaps, has given rise to rumors, at pre-
sent prevailing, that some of the highest officers of the emjieror
have memorialized him on the expediency of legalizing the opium
trade.

" On th€ other hand, the rebels, though in moderate force, are suffir

APPENDIX. 288

cientlywell organized to march from one important place to another ^
capturing them when not strongly garrisoned, and everywhere
moving with impunity through the open country. Tlie presence of
men of capacity and education among them is attested by the order
maintained, and by wdl^written politic proclamations disseminated
through the country. Their soldiers observe the rights of others, and |
pillage and rapine of all kinds are so effectually restrained, that the
peasantry take sides with them, and the country through which they
move is not disturbed.

" It is supposed that, if they capture Nanking, they will take pos-
session of the cities to the eastward, including Shanghai, all places
of large trade, and which would afford much revenue, and that
they would not interfere with trade, either foreign or native

" I have stated the course of things in general terms, without spe-
cifying cities taken, or strength of forces, etc., etc., as the accounts
are too contradictory to be quoted, only agreeing in one report,
that they progress, and that their object is Nanking.

" Allow me to present my congratulations upon your safe arrival
in China ; and I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient,
humble servant,

"GEO. CUNNINGHAM:,
" Vice-consul of U. S. America.

" Hon. H. Mabshall,

" Commissioner of the United States of America
to China, etc., etc., etc."

284 TAI-PINQ-WANG.

NOTE E.

Extract of a letter of Mgr. Delaplace, Apostolical Vicar of Kiang-
si, November 6tb, 1852 ; published in the Annals of the Propa>
gation of the Faith, No. 149, p. 283.

" The pretended defenders of the country are scarcely better than
so many brigands, who pillage the honest citizen, even in his own
house. Accordingly, only raise the cry in a market-place that the
troops are about to pass, and, in an instant, you will see no more
shops open. To bring the disaffection to a climax, it is said
that the mandarins are about to lay on an extraordinary tax ;
surely, at a time well chosen, especially as there is a drought I
Hence, seditious murmurs begin already to be heard ; the people
do not conceal their desire for the advent of the insurgents ; and
there is not a village but what would gladly come under their
government. It is said, even, that the native mandarins are no less
impatient to shake off the Tartar yoke ; and that if, in these crit-
ical times, they add to the popular vexation, and increase the pub-
lic burdens, it is for the purpose of insuring and hastening the
triumph of the rebels, the number of whose friends they increase
in increasing the number of the complainers and the disaffected.

" The rebels, on the contrary, pursue a course of conduct truly
wise. They abstain from pillage, and make no trouble. From the
beginning their proclamations have declared, * We have no quarrel
except with the Tartars ; we destroy only the Tartars ;' and they
have kept their word. On capturing a town, they give no quarter

APPENDIX. 286

to the Tartar soldiers ; they put to death the Manchu mandarins
without mercy ; and they also massacre the Chinese mandarins, if
they have not previously sent in their submission. But they re-
spect the mass of the people ; the iperchant is left undisturbed in
his affairs ; and the traveler is permitted to continue his route in
peace. In the journey I have just made from Ho-nau to Kiang-si,
"whether in passing along the western parts of Ngan-hoey, or in
traversing Hou-pe from north to south, the sum and substance of
what I heard was this, * Would that the rebels of the south might
come here, too I' "

TAI-PING-WANG.

NOTE F.

Extract of a letter of M. Paul Perny, Apostolical Missionary of
Kouci-Tcheou ; May 10th, 1852. Annals of the Propagation of
the Faith. No. 149, p. 299.

" A Chinese army is, of all things in the world, the most cu-
rious. Twice have I had an opportunity of seeing one ; and never
in my life have I so much regretted not to understand the art of
painting, as on those occasions. The most faithful description in
words can give no idea of such soldiers. The year of my arrival
in China, the Moslems of Yun-Nan, a restless and numerous tribe,
had arisen en masse agaiust the authority of the mandarins ; and,
to reduce them to subjection, the governor-general hastened to call
to his aid the militia of our province, which was also under his
jurisdiction. I met the principal corps of these auxiliaries, with
their general-in-chief. He was seated in a very elegant sedan,
borne by eight men. His troops marched in the greatest disorder,
like a band of brigands ; and were armed with lances and wretched
matchlocks. Each soldier, besides, carried his umbrella and his
lantern ; thereby, giving to the whole affair an expression indescriba-
ble, and, to the last degree, grotesque. That army, without disci-
pline or experience, would be destroyed by a single one of your
battalions, and that without suffering so much as a scratch. An
European soldier could fire, at least, twenty cartridges before a
Chinese would be able to get his gun off once. Nor is this all.

APPENDIX. 287

When the musket is aimed, the person who holds it, turns away his
head, while another applies the match. You can imagine what
would be the correctness of the aim, and the celerity of the ma-
nceuvre, especially in time of rain."

288 TAI-PING-WANG.

NOTE G.

Extract of a letter of Mgr. Delaplace, Apostolical Vicar of Kiang-
81, November 6th, 1852. Annals of the Propagation of the Faith.
No. 149, p. 282.

" It most be confessed that the emperor, Hien-fang, and his
ministers, appear to be really smitten with vertigo. At the very
moment when everything depends upon strengthening the popular
attachment to the throne, they seem to have undertaken the task
of destroying it. The nation is crushed with imposts, and ex-
hausted by military services. It is almost incredible, the annoyance
given to families, for the sake of sending oflf a few soldiers. For,
it is not to be supposed that the Chinese soldier marches on his
own legs ; not at all ; he must have a cart The trooper, also,
would be too much fatigued, if he were compelled to ride his horse ;
he, likewise, must have a cart. In fact, the war-horse himself can-
not carry his saddle ; to transport his trappings, he must have a
cart, too. So that, last week, at the town of Choui-Tcheou-Fou, two
leagues from here, in order to set in motion a force of 300 men,
there were necessary no less than a thousand carriers of burdens."

APPENDIX. 289

NOTE H.

Extract of a letter of Mgr. Rizzolati, Apostolical Vicar of Hou-
Kwang, January 28th, 1853. Annals of the Propagation of the
Faith. No. 149, p. 287.

" The revolutionary troops appear to be under good discipline,
and very much superior to the imperial army in point of soldier-
ship. They, everywhere, announce their intention of delivering
the country from the yoke of the Tartars, whose vices and tyranny
furnish the theme of their proclamations ; and the people, desirous
of having a Chinese dynasty, receive this denunciation of the
foreigners with applause. Hence, the rebels receive, from all sides,
voluntary subsidies, enormous in amount, and enabling them to
add constantly to their army. But the imperial troops, on the
contrary, degenerate more and more ; and being alarmed at the su-
perior numbers and bravery of the rebels, they study to avoid en-
counters with them, and, rather than do so, are content to retire,
and give up to the enemy their cities. In fact, they give battle
only in cases when it is inevitable, or where victory is absolutely
certain ; but that is very rarely. Hence, it happens that the sol-
diers of the emperor desert by troops, and that the officers invent
thousands of excuses for quitting the service ; as do, also, the civil
mandarins."
13

290 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

NOTE I.

The style of holding cabinet-cooncUs under the Tai-ping-wang
dynasty is remarkably characteristic of Chinese manners, and may
be further illustrated by a brief account of a cabinet-council, held
two days after the " descent of the Heavenly Father," described in
the thirty-fourth chapter.

" On the twenty-seventh day of December, Yang, the eastern
prince sent a chamberlain to request the northern prince, and the
Marquis Ting-t'hien, to accompany him to court, that they might,
together, pay their compliments to his majesty, and exhort him to
' set his mind at case, and enjoy himself.'

" So, when the female attendants, having gone up into the belfry,
and beaten the gong throe times, had assembled the chamberlains,
and all the officers on duty, in the eastern palace, the party proceed-
ed to attend the court of the celestial king.

" Their arrival duly announced, his majesty ascended his throne
in the hall of audience, and the drum was sounded for the palace-
gate to be opened.

" Thereupon, the eastern and northern princes, with the marquis
Ting-t'hien, ascended the hall, twice exclaiming, ' May the king
live forever !'

" The celestial king then said, ' Brother Tsing, on account of
what afifair of state are you come to court, to-day ?' The eastern
prince replied, ' I, your younger brother, have come to pay you my

APPENDIX. 291

complimeots.' To which the celestial king said, * I hope that you,
yourself, are in health.' He then directed the eastern prince to be
seated. The latter, on taking his seat, said, ' I, your younger
brother, seeing that the Heavenly Father took the trouble, yester-
day, to come down into the world, have considered that, although
the instructions given by him were primarily intended for you,
my second elder brother, they were also designed for the benefit of
our brethren and sisters throughout all the world. It is because
we, your younger brethren and subjects, have committed faults, that
our Heavenly Father has admonished you, our elder brother, there-
by making you an example to the whole empire.'

"The celestial king replied, 'I, your second elder brother,
have, indeed, been in fault, so as to induce our Heavenly Fa-
ther to take the trouble to come down into the world to admonish
me.'

'* The northern king said, * You, our second elder brother, are
not in fault; it is only that we, your younger brethren, are in
fault.'

" The eastern prince then addressed the celestial king, saying,
* The adage says : " A prince should treat his subjects with respect,
and then the subjects will serve their prince with fidelity." All
the subjects of this realm, depending for their subsistence on the
bounties of the state, are in duty bound to servo their prince with
fidelity ; when subjects also distinguish themselves in a meritorious
manner, the prince should bestow upon them all proper considera-
tion and reward ; he should kindly sympathize with his inferiors,
and bestow favors upon them, in order to encourage them in good
conduct. Now, among the female officers of the celestial court,
and in the palace belonging to me, your younger brother, those
who attend to the business of the state are very much harassed.
Some of these are the wives and others the mothers of meritorious
and faithful officers, some have young children to attend to, and

292 TAI-PING-WANG.

others old relatives to look after ; some of them also have meritori-
ous husbands, who have given up their households out of r^ard to
their country. Now, when females have surrendered their domestic
ties with a view to the service of the state, and abandoned their
private interests in order to promote the public weal, the prince
ought to take into consideration their futhful devotion, and al-
low them, every six weeks, to go and look at their relatives, or
every month or three weeks to go and inspect their boasebolds,
or, it may be, every week or fortnight to take turns to visit
their domestic hearth, whether to fondle their children, or manifest
respect to their aged relatives, or to serve their husbands ; in this
way they will be enabled to carry out the duty of 6rst regarding
the interests of their country, and after that attending to the wel-
fare of their family. Now, also, there are many ladies whose rank
is honorable, and whose duties arc important ; we do not say that
the female officers placed under these would purposely neglect their
duties, but it may be that some of them have displeased their mis-
tresses, who may have scolded them a little too severely ; now, if
you do not allow these female officers to state their grievances,
they will never get redress ; the females employed, therefore, should
be i>ermitted to complain, when you, our second elder brother,
would be able to make up your mind on the case, and decide be-
tween the right and the wrong. This is one way in which princes
may employ their subjects according to propriety. Moreover, in
the royal city, there are the various operations of erecting palaces,
digging moats, throwing up banks, and sweeping the imperial gar^
dens, which must all be attended to by these female officers ; but
you should issue your orders how these things are to be done, it
is not at all necessary that you should personally inspect these
operations. For the celestial majesty extends to every spot, and
wherever the imperial cavalcade comes, people are 611ed with dread
and alarm ; it is better, therefore, to allow these officials to work

APPENDIX. 293

on without intemiption, in which case they will be able to com-
plete their undertaking ; but if you go personally to inspect what
they Me about, they will not be able to bring anything to perfec-
tion. This is another way in which princes may employ their sub-
jects according to propriety. When a prince thus manifests a de-
gree of gracious consideration in his conduct towards his subjects,
then his subjects will be more especially affected with gratitude in
order faithfully to serve their prince. If you carry out this method
of treatment, from the female oflBcers to the male persons employed,
then those who are engaged in any military expedition will expose
themselves to distresses abroad, such as sleeping on their arms, and
fighting amidst frost and snow. When the prince thus cherishes
a kind consideration for his subjects, his subjects will exert them-
selves to serve him faithfully, in order to repay the benevolence of
the prince. This shows how, when the prince employs his sub-
jects according to propriety, subjects will serve their prince with
fidelity. With respect to the female apartments, royal reforma-
tion must begin there ; the palace is the fountain from which all
government springs ; hence, he who wishes to illustrate intelligent
virtue throughout the empire, will first regulate his country, and
he who wishes to have his country well regulated, will first put his
family in order. At present, through the favor of our Heavenly
Father, the number of ladies at court is very great, the daughters
of the princes are also numerous ; it will not, therefore, be right to
listen only to the statements of the elder ladies, and not give heed
to the complaints of the younger ones ; still less would it be right
to mind the prattle of the younger branches of the royal family to
tiie exclusion of the remonstrances of the elder ones. In every
case, you should allow both parties to make their statements
clearly, and then you may decide between them, as to which party
is in the right and which in the wrong, without showing any par-
tiality to either. When the ladies wait upon you, my elder broth-

294 TAI-PING-WANG.

er, it is, of course, their duty ; but sometimes they may be apt to
excite your righteous displeasure ; in which case, you must treat
them gently, and not kick them with your boot on, for, if you kick
them with your boot on, it may be that some of the ladies arc in
such a state as to call for the congratulations of their friends, and
then you will interfere with the kind intentions of our Heavenly
Father, who loves to foster human life. Further, when any of the
ladies are in the state above alluded to, it would be as well to mani-
fest a little gracious consideration, and allow them to rest from
their labors, while you s<;lect some separate establishment for their
residence and repose. You may still require them, morning and
evening, to pay their resi>ects. Such a method of treatment would
be proper ; and if still any of the ladies should commit any trifling
fault, so as to give offense to my lord, it would be as well to excuse
them from being beaten with the bamboo ; you may, however, scold
them severely, and tell them not to offend any more. Should any of
them commit any grievous crime, you should wait until after their
confinement, when you can inflict punishment.'

"The celestial king then praised his adviser, saying, 'Your ob-
servations, brother Tsing, are all-important, and may be considered
the specifics for managing families, governing countries, and ruling
the whole empire.'

" The celestial king again issued his commands, saying, ' On a for-
mer day, you, my brethren, prepared a document, which you sent up,
announcing that, of late, our Heavenly Father has not bestowed
upon us very many silks and satins. Now, I should like to know
whether you, my brethren, have clothes enough to wear ; for, if
you have not, your second elder brother's palace is well supplied
with apparel, and I will order some to be given out for your
use.'

'• The eastern prince said, * We, your younger brethren, through
the favor of heaven and the great goodness displayed by you, our

APPENDIX. 295

second elder brother, have still got enough, and there is no occa-
sion to give out more.'

" The celestial king further said, ' Since, then, the apparel pos-
sessed by me, your second elder brother, is abundant, you have no
occasion to make up more garments.'

" To which the northern prince replied, ' You, our second elder
brother, are the true sovereign of all nations under heaven : you
are rich in the possession of all within the four seas ; but, although
the garments be abundant, it will still be necessary to be constantly
making up more.'

"The eastern prince said, *I beseech you, our second elder
brother, to excuse the freedom which I, your younger brother, am
about to take. If the apparel were insufiBcient, it would be neces-
sary to make up more ; but if it be accounted sufficient, it will bo
better to delay the making up of more, in order to carry out the
virtue of economy and regard for others displayed by you, our sec-
ond elder brother. What necessity was there for our brother
Ching (the northern prince) to say that we ought constantly to be
making up more V

•* The celestial king said, ' All that which you, my brother Tsing,
have stated, may be considered as important specifics and precious
remediest every word of which is consistent with the highest reason,
and fit to be preserved as a rule for successive generations. When
our celestial elder brother, Jesus, in obedience to the commands of
our Heavenly Father, came down into the world, in the country of
Judea, he addressed his disciples, saying, "At some future day the
Comforter will come into the world ;" now I, your second elder
brother, considering what you, brother Tsing, have reported to me,
and observing what you have done, must consider that the Com-
forter, and the Holy Ghost, spoken of by our celestial elder brother,
is none other than yourself.'

"When he had finished speaking, the northern prince, with

296 TAI-PING-WANG.

the Marquis Ting-t'heen, thrice exclaimed, 'May the king live
forever ! we beseech your celestial majesty to make yourself easy
and enjoy happiness.' Having said which, they returned thanks
for the feast bestowed upon them, and retired from the court'*

APPENDIX. 297

NOTE J.

PROCLAMATIONS OP THB TAI-PINO DYNASTY.

A still more complete nnderstanding of the pretended heavenly
agencies by which the insurrection was narsed and brought to
maturity, as well as of its spirit and aims, may be gathered from
the following proclamations, extracted from " The Book of Celestial
Decrees and Declarations of the Imperial Will," published in the
second year of the Tai-ping dynasty, denominated Jin-tsze (1852) :

" On the 18th day of the 3rd moon, of the Sin-k'hao year,
(April 23d, 1851), in the village ofTung-heang (in the district of
Woo-seucn), the Celestial Elder Brother, Jesus, addressed the multi-
tude, saying, * Oh, my younger brethren 1 you must keep the celes-
tial commands, and obey the orders that are given you, and be at
peace among yourselves ; if a superior be in the wrong, and an in-
ferior somewhat in the right, or if an inferior is in the wrong, and a
superior somewhat in the right, do not, on account of a single ex-
pression, record the matter in a book, and contract feuds and
enmities. You ought to cultivate what is good, and purify your
conduct; you should not go into the villages, to seize people's
goods. When you go into the ranks to fight, you must not re-
treat. When you have money, you must make it public, and not
consider it as belonging to one and another. You must, with united

heart and strength, together conquer the hills and rivers. You
13»

298 TAI-PING-WANG.

should find out the way to heaven, and walk in it ; although, at
present, the work be toilsome and distressing, yet, by-and-by.
you will be promoted to high offices. If, having been instructed,
any of you should still break heaven's commands, and slight the
orders given you, or disobey your officers, or retreat when you are
led into battle, do not be surprised if I, your exalted elder brother,
issue orders to have you put to death.' "

" On the 13th day of the 7th month of the Sin-k'hae year (Au-
gust 18th, 1851), at Red Thorn Hill, in the tea district, our Heav-
enly Father, the Great God, and Supreme Lord, said :

* I, your Iloavenly Father, for several years past, have come down amon^
you.

Your Celestial Elder Brother has come down to protect yoa, and zealous-
ly (fODc out before you.

JcsuB, your Saviour, contiuucs to exert himself in leading you on, just a«
before.

I, your Heavenly Father, will be your Lord all your lives long.

Why do you not, then, be faithful, and why neglect to improve your-
selves ?

Many of you have grievously disobeyed orders,

And because I have not pointed you out, your boldness has rison up to
heaven.

When you try to deceive heaven, do not think that heaven does not
know it.

The indulgence of heaven is vast as the sen, and yet not slow ^to punish).

I perceive that there is among you a slight want of courage.

How long will you refuse to act as faithful servants ?

You intended in the dead of the night to follow the dark road.

And, ere moming dawned, you had to complain of being caught by the
devil's delusions.

Now then, all of you follow the right way in defense of your king,

And truly believe your Heavenly Father, without harboring saspicions.'

" The Great God also said :

* Now, I, your Heavenly Father, have personally come down into
the world, to lead on you, my little ones ; but I see that some of

APPENDIX. 299

yoaare disobedient to the heavenly commands, and every time you
engage in any aflRiir, you do not act in unison. Think, now, whose
rice you are eating, and in what work you are engaged. When you
are sent to kill the imps (enemies), why are you not more united,
why do you not exert your strength, and press forward together in
battle? I, your Heavenly Father, tell you plainly, from this time
forth, that, in killing the imps, if any one of you in the least d^ec
refuses to go forth, or venture into battle, you may be sure that
heaven knows it ; for you, yourselves, know all about it. Consider
well, that I, your Heavenly Father, am mighty, and require all
you, little ones, to obey orders ; if you again disobey, do not be sur-
prised (if I punish you). Every one of you must be true-hearted
and courageous, in doing the work of heaven.' "

"The next day (August 1 9th), early in the morning, the great
God said :

* From of old, life and death havo been decreed by heaven ;
How can one succeed in anything by depending on himself 7
The soul is originally bestowed on you by your Heavenly Father ;
Now, if you do not arouse, what sort of people can you account your-
selves ? ' "

" On the twenty-sixth day of the seventh moon, of the Sin-k'hae
year (August 31, 1851), at night, in the village of Muh, the Heav-
enly Father, the great God, and Supreme Lord, put to death
Hwang-e-chin, and said :

* Hwang-e-chin has twice disobeyed commands ;

From the cloudy heavens to the snowy earth his fault cannot be excused.

Ho boldly attempted to deceive heaven, and had no faith ;

In the time of battle, he twice caused our heroes to retire.

The true spirit (God) created the land and the sea ;

If you do not believe in your ghostly Father, what merit have you 1

Oh, all ye little ones, obey heaven's commands ;

If yon disobey, like E-chin, your crimes will never be forgiven.' "

300 TAI-PING-WANG.

" On the twentieth day of the tenth month, of the Sin-kliae year
(December 26th, 1851), at the city of Yung-gnan, Jesus, the Ce-
lestial Elder Brother, said :

* If a man wishes to become a hero, he must not be at his case ;
he that is at his case cannot be a hero ; the more you endure suf-
ferings, the greater will be your dignity. But you need not be
alarmed ; for if those impish fiends (the enemy) were able of a
sudden to fly, or to change their form, they never could escape the
hand of my Heavenly Father, or the hand of me, your Celestial
Elder Brother.' "

" In the early part of the twelfth month, in the Kang-suh year
(January, 1851), at a place called Kin-t'hien, the celestial king
commanded, saying :

* The first requisite is, to obey the commandments ; the second,
to divide the ranks of the males from the females ; the third, to
avoid encroachment in the slightest decree ; the fourth, to mani-
fest a public spirit, and a harmonious feeling, each one following
the orders of his superiors ; the fifth, to combine every efibrt, and
every energy, and, when engaging in batUe, never to retreat* "

" On tire nineteenth day of the seventh month, of the Sin-k'hae
year (24th August, 1851), at the tea district, the celestial king issued
a proclamation, commanding every officer and soldier throughout
all the regiments and battalions, with courage and joy, exultingly
to obey the requisitions of our Heavenly Father and Celestial Eld-
er Brother, without being agitated by fear ; for all things are
determined by our Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother ;
every trouble is intended by our Heavenly Father and Celestial
Elder Brother, as the trial of our minds ; therefore, let every one
be true, and firm, and patient, so that ho may answer it to onr
Heavenly Father and our Celestial Elder Brother.

APPENDIX. 301

" The Heavenly Father formerly issued his commands, saying,
' Let every one be firm and patient, and he will not know any dif-
ference (between cold and heat), so that the colder it is, the more
he may throw off his clothes.'

" Remembering this, let all the officers and soldiers awake from
their lethargy. According to the statement now handed in, there
seems to be no salt ; let the camp, therefore, be removed. Ac-
cording to the same statement, it also appears there are many sick
and wounded ; let the greater care, therefore, be taken to preserve
the feeble. Should you fail to preserve one among our brethren
and sisters, you will disgrace our Heavenly Father, and Celestial
Elder Brother. Now, when the camp seta forward, let all the le-
gions and cohorts be strict and exact in keeping the ranks, and in
combining every effort and every energy. Let me earnestly en-
treat you reverently to obey the celestial commands, and do not
any more oflfond. The general in command of the advanced
guard, our sister's husband, Seaou-Chaou-kwei, and the general in
command of the left wing, our brother, Shih-tah-k'hae, should, to-
gether take, the superintendence of the chief inspector's depart-
ment. The first and second brigadiers of the advanced guard,
the first and second brigadiers of the left wing, must lead the van.
Let the general in command of the centre of the army, our broth-
er, Yang-fiiu-tsing, take the superintendence of the chief direct-
or's department ; the first and second brigadiers of the central
division, together with twenty of the select body-guard, are to
guard the centre. The general in command of the right-wing, our
brother, Wei-ching, and the general in command of the rear-guard,
our brother, Fung-yung-san, should together lead on the first and
second brigadiers of the right wing, and the first and second bri-
gadiers of the army of reserve to guard the rear. AVhenever the
camps advance, or pitch their tents, let every legion and cohort
be regularly joined, so as to be able to come to each other's assist-

302 TAI-PI\G-WANO.

ance. You must, every one of you, exert your energies in sus-
taining and protecting the old and young, both male and female,
together with the sick and wounded, bo as to preserve them from
every harm. At the same time, let every one look to the orJers
that issue from our little heaven ; and all, both officers and sol-
diers, be obedient.
" Respect this."

" On the third day of the eighth month, of the Sin-k'hae year
(8th September, 1851), at the village of Muh, the celestial king
commaudeil all the officers and soldiers, throughout the various
camps and legions, to rouse their courage, and cxultingly rejoice,
also with united efforts and energies to march forward, because in
everything our Heavenly Father takes the superintendence, and
our Celestial Elder Brother sustains us ; therefore, let me earnest-
ly entreat you not to be agitated by fear :

' The true spirit (God) can create the hills and sooa ;
Let the fiendish imps come on at once ;

Let nets be spread in heaven and earth, surrounding us with double folds.
Do you, soldiers and officers, expand your minds with courage ;
Let the wntch go their rounds by day and by night, and strictly guard ;
Let plans be laid, and silence reign throughout the camp.
Formerly, Yo-fei, with five hundred men, defeated a hundred thousand ;
Ilowmuch more, then, shall we be able to exterminate tliese impish fiends.'

" Respect this."

" On the nineteenth day of the eighth month, of the Sin-k'hae
year (September 24th, 1851), when on board a boat, the celestial
king issued a proclamation, saying : ' AVe earnestly beseech you,
soldiers and officers, to obey the commands of heaven, and do not
any more offend. We, on this occasion, most sincerely impress
upon you this assurance, that those who. at the present time, do

APPENDIX. 303

not covet life or fear death, will afterwards ascend to heaven, where
they will enjoy eternal life ; but those of you who covet life, will
not get life, and those of you who dread death, will meet with
death. Moreover, those who, at the present hour, do not covet
ease, or fear misery, shall afterwards ascend to heaven, where they
shall enjoy the eternal tranquillity, and freedom from every woe ;
but those of you who covet ease, will not get ease, and those who
fear misery will experience misery. After all, obey heaven's com-
mands, and you will enjoy celestial bliss ; disobey, and you will
go to hell ; we earnestly beseech you, therefore, both officers and
soldiers, to wake from your lethargy. If you offend any more, do
not be surprised (if I punish you).'
" Respect this."

" On the seventh day of the eighth month, in the Sin-k'hae year
(13th September, 1851), while at the city of Yung-gnan, the
celestial king issued a proclamation, urging every officer and sol-
dier, throughout each legion and each camp, to display a public
spirit, and not on any account to manifest selfishness, but to be
single-minded ; so as to be able to answer it to our Heavenly
Father, our Celestial Elder Brother, and to ourselves. From
henceforth it is commanded, to all you, soldiers and officers, that
whenever you kill the imps, and take their cities, all the gold and
silver, silks and satins, with precious things, which are obtained,
must not be secreted for private use, but be altogether brought
into the holy treasury of our celestial court. Those, who oflend
against this, will be condemned.

" Respect this."

•' On the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, of the Sin-k'hae
year (30th October, 1851), whilst -at the city of Yung-gnan, the
celestial king issued a proclamation to all the officers and sol-

304 TAI-PING-WANG.

dicrs throughout the host, both great and small, earnestly be-
seeching them to obey the commands of heaven ; with joy and
exultation, with courage and ardor, with united effort and energy,
to press forward in the contest, reverently obeying the injunctions
given us by our Ileavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother.
It is now commanded to all the legions that, after every battle
against the imps, every sergeant shall stand and record the names
of the privates under his command. Those, who have been most
distinguished for obeying orders, and marching forward, are to be
marked with a circle, to indicate their merit ; those, who have been
most distinguished for disobeying orders, and running away, are to
be marked with a cross, to designate their crime. Those, who
have been distinguished neither one way nor the other, are to be
left without any mark. When the record is complete, the ser-
geant is to take the book, and hand it up to the centurion ; the
centurion is to give it to the leader of the cohort ; and the leader
of the cohort is to pass it over to the commander of the legion,
who is, in turn, to present it to the general, and the general to
the inspector-general, who shall further send it to the director-
general, and the director-general shall lay it before the minister
of state ; the minister of state shall further communicate it to the
generalissimo, who shall report it to our little heaven, in order to
settle the degree of rank to which each one shall be elevated or
degraded. Small merits shall be requited with small rewards,
and great merits shall be distinguished by conspicuous promotions
Let every one, therefore, put forth his utmost energies, and dis-
play self-respect.
" Respect this."

" On the 12th day of the 10th month of the Sin-k'hae year (17th
Nov., 1851), whilst at the city of Yung-gnan, the celestial king
issued a proclamation, v-arnestly beseeching all the officers and sol-

APPENDIX. 305

diers, throughout the host, both great and small, to obey heaven's
commands, with joy and exultation, with patience and endurance,
with courage and ardor, with united strength and vigor, to press
forward in the contest, reverently obeying the laws and institutions
of our Heavenly Father, and Celestial Elder Brother. Formerly
we issued a command, saying, ' It is not an easy matter to go to
heaven ; the most important thing, however, is determination and
patience ; having these, you will certainly succeed. Therefore, be
resolute, and carefully avoid falling into error, when but half-way
there ; for the devil's paths are devious and deflected.' According
to present appearances, all of you, soldiers and people, must know
that the impious fiends have various ways of deceiving people,
and that the devil's ways are devious and deflected ; further, you
must know that our former declaration to you was correct. Now,
we issue this special proclamation to you, soldiers and people,
great and small, earnestly beseeching you to be patient and firm,
not moved by delusive solicitations, but really determined implicitly
to obey heaven, and faithfully to serve your country, even to the
end. Your Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother have their
eyes fixed upon you, and we have also got our eyes fixed upon you.
We further command that those meritorious ministers, who have
from first to last died in battle and ascended to heaven, be pro-
moted to rank equal to that of director-general, with honors descend-
ing to their posterity ; those meritorious officers, also, who have
borne our standards in the fight, and arc now gone to heaven, shall
be promoted to rank equal to that of gcneral-in-chief, or imperial
body-guard. Those, who have been already promoted, have their
caps and coata according to the official form ; those, who have not
been promoted, have caps like the sergeants. Those, who have been
promoted in one body, and those who have not been promoted in an-
other class, may all come up into our little heaven ; while all those
meritorious officers, who, together with us, engage in attacking the

306 TAI-PING-WANG.

-»

hills and rivers (of China), shall, if greatly successful, be promoted to
be ministers of state, inspectors-general, directors-general, generals-
in-chief, and imperial body-guards ; the very smallest of them shall
be commanders of legions, with honors conferred on their posterity,
wearing dragon-adorned robes, and gem-bespangled girdles, standing
in our celestial court. We sincerely announce to you that, since
we have all had the happiness to become sons and daughters of our
Heavenly Father, and brothers and sisters of our Celestial Elder
Brother, we shall enjoy incomparable dignity in this present world,
and interminable felicity in the next We ask you, now, whether
of all honors there be any dignity to be compared to this ? Further-
more, wc earnestly beseech all soldiers and officers, of every legion,
exultingly and unitedly to obey the commands and requisitions of
our Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother. The fiendish
imps are full of artful designs ; therefore, we earnestly entreat all
of you, both soldiers and officers, to be on your guard, and do not
vainly lament, when the morning dawns, that you have fallen into
the devil's wiles.
" Respect this."

" On the 25th day of the 10th month, of the Sin-kliae year (30th
Nov., 1851), while at Yung-gnan, the celestial king issued a pro-
clamation, enjoining all the officers and soldiers throughout the
host, both great and small, to know well the true doctrine, and
follow it ; namely, this : our Heavenly Father, the Great God, and
Supreme Lord, is one true spirit (God) ; besides our Heavenly
Father, the Great Sod, and Supreme Lord, there is no spirit
(God). The Great God, our Heavenly Father, and Supreme
Lord, is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, the Supreme
over all. There is not an individual who is not produced and
nourished by him. He is Shang, Supreme. He is the Te,
Ruler. Besides the great God, our Heavenly Father, and Su-

APPENDIX. 307

preme Tx)rd, there is no one who can be called Shang, and no
one who can be called Te. Therefore, from henceforth, all you,
soldiers and officers, may desijBruate us as your lord, and that is
all. You must not call us supreme, lest you should encroach upon
the designation of our Heavenly Father. Our Heavenly Father is
our Holy Father, and our Celestial Elder Brother is our Holy
Lord, the Saviour of the world. Hence, our Heavenly Father
and Celestial Elder Brother alone are holy ; and from henceforth,
all you, soldiers and officers, may designate us as your lord, and
that is all ; but you must not call us holy, lest you encroach upon
the designation of our Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother.
The Great God, our Heavenly Father, and Supreme Lord, is our
Spiritual Father, our Ghostly Father. Formerly we had ordered
you to designate the first and second ministers of state, together
with the generab-in-chief of the van and rear of the army, royal
fathers, which was a temporary indulgence, in conformity with
the corrupt customs of the present world ; but, according to the
true doctrine, this was a slight encroachment on the prerogative
of our Heavenly Father ; for our Heavenly Father is alone entitled
to the designation of Father. We have now appointed the chief
minister of state and general-in-chief to be designated the eastern
king, having charge of all the states in the eastern region. "We
have also appointed the second minister of state and assistant
general-in-chief to be designated the western king, having charge
of all the states in the western region. We have further appointed
the general of the advanced guard to be designated the southern
king, having charge of all the states in the southern region ; and
we have, likewise, appointed the general of the rear-guard to be
designated the northern king, having charge of all the states in
the northern region. We liave, furthermore, appointed our brother
Shih-tah-k'hae to be assistant king, to aid in sustaining our celes-
tial court. All the kings, above referred to, are to be under the

308 TAI-PING-WANG.

superintendence of the eastern king. We have, also, issued a pro-
clamation designating our queen as the lady of all ladies (empress),
and our concubines as royal ladies.
" Respect this.'*

" On the 27th day of the Ist month, of the Jin-tsze year (2d March,
1852), at the city of Yung-gnan, the celestial king issued a pro-
clamation, earnestly beseeching all the oDSccrs and soldiers, through-
out the hosts, great and smxdl, male and female, to obey the com-
mands of heaven. "We now especially direct our brother, Yang-Siu-
tsing, our sister's husband, Seaou-Chaou-kwei, our brother, Fung-
Yun-san, our brother, Wei-ching, and our brother, Shih-tah-k'hae,
together with all the commanders of legions, most strictly and fre-
quently to inspect the soldiers of the army, whether or not they
offend against the seventh command ; for if they do, as soon as it
is discovered, they shall be immediately taken up and beheaded, as
a warning to all. There shall assuredly be no forgiveness ; and we
expressly enjoin upon the soldiers and oCSccrs not to show the least
leniency, or screen the offenders, lest we bring down upon ourselves
the indignation of the Great God, our Heavenly Father. Let
every one be on his guard.

" Respect this."

" On the 30th day of the 2d month, of the Jin-tsze year (5th April,
1852), at Yung-gnan, the celestial king issued a proclamation, ex-
pressly enjoining on all the male officers and female officers, through-
out the host, to obey the commands of heaven, with joy and exult-
ation, firmness and patience, courage and ardor, valiantly to fight
against the imps (enemies), for —

* Ix)t tho impish fiends amount to thousands and myriads,
Thoy will hardly escape the hand of our Heavenly Father.
If ho could make the land and the sea in six days.

APPENDIX. 309

You may easily boliove that our Ghostly Father is a hero.
High heaven has commissioned you to kill tho impish fiends ;
Our Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother havo their eyes on you.
Let the male and female officers all grasp the sword ;
As for your apparel, one change will be sufficient ;
Unitedly rouse your courage, and slay the fiends ;
Let gold and silver, with bag and baggage, bo disregarded ;
Divest yourselves of worldly motives, and look to heaven.
Where there ore golden tiles and houses, all glorious to behold ;
In heaven above, you may enjoy happiness, and dignity, in the extreme j
The very meanest and smallest will be clothed in silks and satins ;
The males will be adorned with dragon-embroidered robes, and tho fe-
males with flowers ;
Let each one, therefore, bo faithful, and exert his utmost energies.'

" Respect this."

The celestial king appends the following proclamation :
* We hereby command you, ministers and people, to make a dis-
tinction between males and females ; men are to manage outside
afiairs, and not to listen to what goes on within ; women are to
manage domestic concerns, and not to trouble themselves about
external matters. We, therefore, especially command that, from
henceforth, outside affairs are not to be reported inside, and inter-
nal affairs are not to be reported outside. As to the inmates of
the harem, they are generally to be termed ladies, and ministers
must he especially careful not to speak of the names and surnames,
rank and station, of the inmates of the harem ; these must, on no
account, be talked about or discussed ; should any offend in this
particular, they shall be beheaded without mercy. No subject is
ever to look upon the face of the inmates of the harem ; but every
one hang down his head, and cast down his eyes, not daring to lift
them up from the ground ; for whosoever glances at the faces of
the inmates of the harem shall be beheaded without mercy. What
is said in the harem must never be reported outside. Should any

310 TAI-PING-WANG.

subjects or female officers dare to report outside what is said in the
harem, they shall be beheaded without mercy. "WTiat is said by
any subject must not be reported inside ; if the speech of any sub-
ject is reported inside, then the person reporting it shall be be-
headed without mercy, and the subject who uttered the speech
shall also be beheaded without mercy. We sincerely announce this
to you. To keep the harem distinct, is the foundation of good
government and honest morals. It is not that we are desirous of
making severe restrictions ; but we wish to carry out the holy witt
of our Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother, in beheading
the lewd, and sparing the correct. Should there be the least de-
parture from this rule, it would not do at all. Now that we have
issued this decree, not only must our subjects, in the present day,
obey, but throughout our celestial dynasty and celestial empire, for
myriads and myriads of years, generation after generation, whoever
becomes a subject of this state must comply with this rule. These
are our words.'
" Respect this."

APPENDIX. 311

NOTE K.

A recent number of ihe^**Friend to China," in noticing a late
manifesto of the insurgents, says : " At one blow Tai-ping-wang
abolish(» the idolatrous and other superstitious rites observed at
births and marriages ; directs young people to attend daily services
at church ; commands the Sabbath to be kept, requiring the at-
tendance at public worship alike of young and old on that holy
day ; orders an officer to conduct the religious service, and preach
a £Crmon ; and authoritatively appoints, as by imperial command,
that the Word of God, the ' holy books of the Old and New Testa-
ments' (the identical Protestant version of the .Bible, commonly
known and styled, * GutzlafTs Version,' and towards printing which,
in former times, the British and Foreign Bible Society contributed
pecuniary aid) be made the text-book for instructing the Chinese
youth in the whole empire."

312 TAI-PING-WANG.

NOTE L.

TAI-PING LITERATURE.

FORMS OP PRAYER.

The form to he observed in seeking the forgiveness of sins :

Ixjt the suppliant kneel down in the sight of heaven, and pray
to the great God to forgive his sins. Ho may either employ such
words as occur, or he may use a written form ; when the prayer is
over, let him take a basin of water and wash himself clean, or if
he perform his ablutions in the river, it will be still better. AMien
he has obtaine<l freedom from sin, let him, morning and evening,
continue to worship the great God, praying that God would regard
him with favor, and grant him his Holy Spirit to change his
heart. At every meal also he should give thanks to God, and
every seventh day worship and praise God for his mercies. Let
him also constantly obey the ten commandments, and not on any
account worship the corrupt spirits (gods) that are in the world,
neither let him do any corrupt thing. In this way people may
become the sons and daughters of the great God : in the present
life they shall be the objects of the divine favor, and after death
their souls will ascend to heaven, where they shall enjoy endless
bliss. All the people throughout the world, no matter whether
male or female, Chinese or foreigners, must pursue this method, or
they cannot go to heaven.

APPENDIX. 313

A prayer for a penitent sinner:

I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, kneeling down upon the
ground, with a true heart repent of my sins, and pray thee, the
great God, our heavenly Father, of thine infinite goodness and mer-
cy, to forgive my former ignorance and frequent transgressions of
the divine commands ; earnestly beseech thee, of thy great favor,
to pardon all my former sins, and enable me to repent, and lead a
new life, so that my soul may ascend to heaven. May I from
henceforth sincerely repent and forsake my evil ways, not wor-
shiping corrupt spirits (gods), nor practicing perverse things,
but obey the divine commands. I also earnestly pray thee, the
great God, our heavenly Father, constantly to bestow on me thy
Holy Spirit, and change my wicked heart ; never more allow me
to be deceived by malignant demons, but perpetually regarding
me with favor, forever deliver mc from the evil one ; and every
day bestowing upon me food and clothing, exempt me from calami-
ty and woe, granting me tranquillity in the present world, and the
enjoyment of endless happiness in heaven : through the merits of
our Saviour and Heavenly Brother, the Lord Jesus, who redeemed
us from sin. I also pray the great God, our Father who is in
heaven, that his will may be done on earth as it is done in heaven.
That thou wouldst look down and grant this my request, is my
heart's sincere desire.

A prayer to God for morning or evening :

I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, kneeling down on the ground,
pray to thee, the great God, our heavenly Father, that thoil
wouldst grant me thy merciful protection, and constantly bestow
♦ipon me thy Holy Spirit, to change my wicked heart, and never
more allow me to be deceived by demoniacal influences ; but per-
petually regarding me with favor, that thou wouldst forever

deliver me from the evil one, through the merits of our Saviour
14

314 TAI-PING-WANG.

and Heavenly Brother, the Lord Jesus, who redeemed us from sin.
I also pray thee the great God, our Father in heaven, that thy will
may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. That thou wouldst
look down and grant this my request, is my heart's sincere de-
sire.

Thanksgiving to be offered at meals :

We thank thee, 0 God, our Heavenly Father, and pray that
thou wouldst bless us with daily food and raiment, exempt us
from calamity and afHiction, and grant that our souls may go up
to heaven.

A prayer in the time of sickness and affliction :

I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, kneeling down upon the
ground, beseech thee, the great God, our Heavenly Father, now
that I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, am pressed by sickness or
affliction, that thou wouldst of thy mercy deliver me, cause the
affliction to be speedily removed, and my body to be restored to
health ; should the evil one attempt to injure me, I earnestly pray
thee, the great God, our Heavenly Father, to display thy divine
majesty, and destroy all such demoniacal influences, througli the
merits of our Saviour and Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus, who re-
deemed us from sin. I also pray thee, the great God, our Father
in heaven, that thy will may be done on earth as it is done in
heaven. That thou wouldst look down and grant this my request,
is my heart's sincere desire.

On occasions of birth-days, thanksgiving of women after child-
birth, bringing home a wife, or marrying of a daughter, with all
such fortunate occurrences, presentations of animals, wine, tea,
and rice, should be offered up to the great God, accompanied by
the following prayer :

APPENDIX. 316

I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, kneeling down upon the
ground, present my supplications to thee, the great God, our
Heavenly Father. I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, celebrating
this birth-day, presenting this thanksgiving, or contracting this
marriage, reverently prepare animals, wine, tea, and rice, offering
them up to thee, the great God, our Heavenly Father, earnestly
beseeching thee to bless me, thine unworthy son, or daughter, with
prosperity in our family, and everything according to our desire,
through the merits of our Saviour and Elder Brother, the Lord
Jesus, who redeemed us from sin. I also pray thee, the great
Ood, our Father in heaven, that thy will may be done on earth as
it is done in heaven. That thou wouldst look down and grant
this my request, is my heart's sincere^esire.

On occasion of constructing a hearth, building a house, piling
up stones, or opening up ground, presentations of animals, wine,
tea, and rice, should be offered up to the great God, accompanied
by the following prayer :

I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, kneeling down upon the
ground, present my supplications to thee, the great God, our Heav-
enly Father. I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, having con-
structed this fire-place, built this house, piled up these stones, or
opened up this ground, reverently prepare animals, wine, tea, and
rice, offering them up to thee, the great God, our Heavenly Father,
earnestly beseeching thee favorably to regard and support me,
thine unworthy son, or daughter, granting peace to every member
of my household, both great and small, warding off every kind of
fear or dread, causing all demoniacal influences to retire, and
everything to happen according to our wish, accompanied ])y great
prosperity and bliss, through the merits of our Saviour and Elder
Brother, the Lord Jesus, who redeemed us from sin. I also pray
thee, the great God, our Father in heaven, that thy will may be

316 TAI-PING-WANG.

done on earth as it is done in heaven. That thou wouldst look
down and grant this my request, is my heart's sincere desire.

Whenever any work is undertaken, people should cry out with
a loud voice, saying, Having received the commands of the great
God and supreme Lord, the commands of the Saviour of the world,
the Lord Jesus, and the complete commands of the celestial king,
the sovereign director of the great doctrine (we undertake this
work) ; and may every kind of fear and dread be far away, may
demoniacal influences be compelled to retire, may everything
happen according to our wish, and we obtain great prosperity
and bliss.

On funeral occasions no Buddhistic ceremonies are to be em-
ployed ; having placed the body in a coflin, put on mourning, and
conducted the funeral to the place of burial, presentations of ani-
mals, wine, tea, and rice, should be ofifered up to the great God,
accompanied by the following prayer :

I, thine unworthy son, or daughter, kneeling down upon the
ground, present my supplications to thee, the great God, our
Heavenly Father. There is here present the soul of thine unwor-
thy servant, such a one, who on a certain day, month, and hour,
departed this life ; having placed the body in a coffin, put on
mourning, and conducted the funeral to the place of burial, I rev-
erently prepare animals, wine, tea, and rice, ofiFering them up to
thee, the great God, our heavenly Father, earnestly beseeching
thee, of thy favor to admit the soul of thine unworthy servant,
such a one, up into heaven, to enjoy abundant happiness with
thee. I also pray thee, the great God, our Heavenly Father, favor-
ably to regard and support me, thine unworthy son, or daughter,
granting peace to every member of my household, both great and
small, warding off every kind of fear and dread, causing all
demoniacal influences to retire, and everything to happen accord-

APPENDIX. 317

ing to our wish, accompanied by great prosperity and bliss,
through the merits of our Saviour and Elder Brother, the Lord
Jesus, who redeemed us from sin. I also pray thee, the great
God, our Father in heaven, that thy will may be done on earth as
it is done in heaven. That thou wouldst look down and grant
this my request, is my heart's sincere desire.

When the coffin is closed down, the mourning put on, the body
carried out to the place of interment, and lowered down into the
sepulchre, all should cry out with a loud voice, saying, In obedi-
ence to the commands of the great God, our supreme Lord, in
obedience to the commands of the Saviour of the world, the Lord
Jesus, and in obedience to the complete commands of the celestial
king, the sovereign director of the great doctrine, we pray that
every kind of fear and dread maybe far away, demoniacal influ-
ences be compelled to retire, may everything happen according to
our wish, and we obtain great prosperity and bliss.

Every seventh-day is to be observed as a day of worship, and
for thanking the great God for his goodness.

Every time that the four days of the twenty-eight constellations
called Heu, Fang, Sing, and Maou, occur, is to be observed as a
day of worship.

The form to be used in praising God is as follows:

We praise God, our Holy and Heavenly Father.
We praise Jesos, th^ Holy Lord and Saviour of the world.
We praise the Holy Spirit, the Sacred Intelligence.
We praise the three persons, who. united, constitute one true
Spirit (God).

Then follows a hymn :

How different are the true doctrines from the doctrines of the o
world ! J

318 TAI-PING-WANG.

They save the souls of man, and lead to the enjoyment of endless

bliss :
The wise receive them with exultation, as the source of their hap-

The foolish, when awakened, understand thereby the way to

heaven.
Our Heavenly Father, of his great mercy and unbounded good-
ness,
Spared not his first-born Son, but sent him down into the world,
To give his life for the redemption of all our transgressions,
The knowledge of which, coupled with repentance, saves the souls
of men.

The ten celestial commands, which are to be constantly ob-
served :

The first command : Thou shalt honor and worship the great
God.

The great God is the universal Father of all men, in every
nation under heaven. Every man is produced and nourished by
him : every man is also protected by him : every man ought,
therefore, morning and evening, to honor and worship him, with
acknowledgments of his goodness. It is a common saying, that
heaven produces, nourishes, and protects men. Also, that being
provided with food we must not deceive heaven. Therefore,
whoever does not worship the great God, breaks the commands
of heaven.

The hymn says—

Imperial heaven, the Supreme God, is the true spirit (God) :
Worship him every morning and evening, and you will be taken

up;
You ought deeply to consider the ten celestial commands,

APPENDIX. 319

And not by your foolishness obscure the right principles of na-
ture.

The second command: Thou shalt not worship corrupt spirits
(gods).

The great God says, Thou shalt have no other spirits (gods)
beside me. Therefore, all besides the great God are corrupt
spirits (gods), deceiving and destroying mankind ; they must on no
account be worshiped : whoever worships the whole class of cor-
rupt spirits (gods), offends against the commands of heaven.

The hymn says —

Corrupt devils very easily delude the souls of men :
If you perversely believe in them, you will at last go down to hell.
We exhort you all, brave people, to awake from your lethargy,
And early make your peace with your exalted Heavenly Father.

The third command : Thou shalt not take the name of the
great God in vain.

The name of the great God is Jehovah, which men must not
take in vain. Whoever takes God's name in vain, and rails
against heaven, offends against this command.

The hymn says —
Our exalted Heavenly Father is infinitely honorable ;
Those who disobey and profane his name, seldom come to a good

end.
If unacquainted with the true doctrine, you should be on your

guard,
For those who wantonly blaspheme involve themselves in endless

crime.

The fourth command : On the seventh day, the day of worship,
you should praise the great God for his goodness.

320 TAl-PING-WANG.

In the beginninjT, the great God made heaven and earth, land
and sea, men and things, in six days, and having finished his works
on the seventh day, he called it the day of rest (or Sabbath) :
therefore, all the men of the world, who enjoy the blessing of the
great God, should on every seventh day especially reverence and
worship the great God, and praise him for his goodness.

TVie hymn says —

All the happiness enjoyed in the world comes from heaven ;
It is therefore reasonable that men should give thanks and sing.
At the daily morning and evening meal there shouM be thanks-
giving,
But on the seventh day, the worship should be more intense.

The fifth command: Thou shalt honor thy father and thy
mother, that thy days may Imj prolonged. Whoever disobeys his
parents breaks the command.

The hymn says —

History records that Shun honored his parents to the end of his

days.
Causing them to experience the intenscst pleasure and delight :
August heaven will abundantly reward all who act thus.
And do not disappoint the expectation of the authors of their

being.

The sixth command : Thou shalt not kill, or injure men.

He who kills another kills himself, and he who injures another
injures himself. Whoever does either of these breaks the above
command.

The hymn says —

The whole world is one family, and all men are brethren,
How can they be permitted to kill and destroy one another ?

APPENDIX. 321

The outward form and the inward principle are both conferred by

Allow every one, then, to enjoy the ease and comfort which he
desires.

The seventh command : Thou shalt not commit adultery nor
anything unclean.

All the men in the world are brethren, and all the women
in the world are sisters. Among the sons and daughters of
the celestial hall, the males are on one side, and the females on
the other, and are not allowed to intermix. Should either men or
women practice lewdness, they are considered outcasts, as having
offended against one of the chief commands of heaven. The cast-
ing of amorous glances, the harboring of lustful imaginations, the
smoking of foreign tobacco {opium), or the singing of libidinous
songs, must all be considered as breaches of this command.

Tfie hymn says —

Lust and lewedness constitute the chief transgression ;

Those who practice it become outcasts, and are the objects of pity.

If you wish to enjoy the substantial happiness of heaven.

It is necessary to deny yourself and earnestly cultivate virtue.

Vie eighth command : Thou shalt not rob, or steal.\

Riches and poverty are determined by the great God, but who-
soever robs or plunders the property of others, transgresses this
command.

The hymn says —

Best contented with your station, however poor, and do not steal.
Robbery and violence are low and abandoned practices.
Those who injure others really injure themselves.
Let the noble-minded among you immediately reform.
U*

322 TAI-PING-WANG.

The ninth command : Thou shalt not otter falsehood.

All those who tell lies, and indulge in devilish deceits, with every
kind of coarse and abandoned talk, ofibnd against this command.

The hymn says —
Lying discourse and unfounded stories must all be abandoned ;
Deceitful and wicked words are offenses against heaven.
Much talk will in the end bring evil on the speakers ;
It is, then, much better to be cautious, and regulate one's own mind.

The tenth command : Thou shalt not conceive a covetous
desire.

WTieu a man looks upon the beauty of another's wife and daugh-
ters with covetous desires, or when he regards the elegance of
another man's possessions with covetous desires, or when he en-
gages in gambling, he offends against this command.

The hymn says — «

In your daily conduct, do not harbor covetous desires.
When involved in the sea of lust, the consequences are very serious.
The above injunctions were handed down on Mount Sinai,
And to this day the celestial commands retain all their fbrce.

A few verses —

Repent an^ believe in the great God, our Heavenly Father, and
you will in the end obtain happiness.

Rebel and resist the great God, our Heavenly Father, and you will
surely weep for it.

Those who obey heaven's commands and worship the true Spirit
(God), when they part with the present world, will forth-
with ascend to heaven.

Those who follow the world's customs, and comply with the devil's
wishes, when they come to their end, will find it hard to
escape from hell.

APPENDIX.

Those who believe in depraved spirits will, at last, become the
slaves" of depraved spirits.

Those who, in life, get involved in the devil's meshes, will, when
they die, be taken in the devil's clutches.

Those who worship God, are his sons and daughters : Having do-
rived their origin from heaven, they will finally ascend to
heaven.

A hymn — ' <».

God is the superintending Lord,

Do not be agitated by alarms :
Rely on him with a true heart.

And then you will go to heaven.
Worship God in sincerity.

Believe not in human fables ;
Abandon all worldly views,

^ And then you will go to heaven.

Another hymn —

The true Spirit (God) of heaven is one God (Shang-ti).

But men in general are ignorant and walk in error :

When you bow down to images of clay, wood, and stone,

We beg to ask, how long have you parted with your reason ?

Do not say that to comply with heaven is to follow foreigners.

For the generality of mankind are stupid and disobedient.

Think of the reverence for the Deity displayed by T'hang and Wan,

And courageously break through the devil's barrier.

Comply with heaven and be happy, disobey and perish.

What is the use of disputing about minor matters ?

You are none of you the children of Buddhist idols,

Why do you not, then, repent, and strive to get to heaven ?

324 TAI-PING-WANG.

THE TRIMETRICAL CLASSIC*

The great God

Made heaven and earth,

Both land and sea,

And all things therein.

In six days,

He made the whole.

Man the lord of all.

Was endowed with glory and honor.

Every seventh day worship.

In acknowledgment of heaven's favor :

Let all under heaven

Keep their hearts in reverence.

It is said that in former times,

A foreign nation was commanded

To honor God ;

The nation's name was Israel.

Their twelve tribes

Removed into Egypt ;

Where God favored them,

And their posterity increased.

Then a king arose,

Into whose heart the devil entered ;

He envied their prosperity.

And inflicted pain and misery.

Ordering the daughters to be preserved,

But not allowing the sons to live ;

Their bondage was severe.

And very difficult to bear.

• Each line containiDg three words, and each verse four llnee.

APPENDIX.

The great God
Viewed them with pity,
And commanded Moses
To return to his family.
He commanded Aaron
To go and meet Moses ;
When both addressed the kmg,
And wrought divers miracles.
The king hardened his heart,
And would not let them go :
Wherefore God was angry,
And sent lice and locusts.
He also sent flies,
Together with frogs.
Which entered their palaces.
And crept into their ovens.
When the king still refused,
The river was turned to blood ;
And the water became bitter
Throughout all Egypt.
God sent boils and blains,
With pestilence and murrain ;
He also sent hail,
Which was very grievous.
The king still refusing,
He slew their first-born ;
When the king of Egypt
Had no resource ;
But let them go
Out of his land.
The great God
Upheld and sustained them,

325

TAI-PING-WANG.

By day in a cloud,

By nij^ht in a pillar of fire.

The great God

Himself saved them.

The king hardened his heart,

And led his armies in pursuit ;

But God was angry,

And displayed his majesty.

Arrived at the lied Sea,

The waters were spread abroad ;

The people of Israel

Were very much afraid.

The pursuers overtook them.

But God stayed their course ;

He himself fought for them,

And the people had no trouble.

He caused the Red Sea

"With its waters to divide ;

To stand up as a wall.

That they might pass between.

The people of Israel

Marched with a steady step,

As though on dry ground,

And thus saved their lives.

The pursuers attempting to cross,

Their wheels were taken ofiT;

When the waters closed upon them,

And they were all drowned.

The great God

Displayed his power,

And the people of Israel

Were all preserved.

APPENDIX. 327

When they came to the desert,

They had nothing to eat ;

But the great God

Bade them not to be afraid.

He sent down manna,

For each man a pint ;

It was as sweet as honey.

And satisfied their appetites. ^

The people lusted much,

And wished to eat flesh,

When quails were sent.

By the million of bushels.

At the Mount Sinai,

Miracles were displayed ;

And Moses was commanded

To make tables of stone.

The great God

Gave his celestial commands.

Amounting to ten precepts.

The breach of which would not be forgiven.

He himself wrote them,

And gave them to Moses ;

The celestial law

Cannot be altered.

In after-ages.

It was sometimes disobeyed.

Through the devil's temptations.

When men fell into misery.

But the great God,

Out of pity to mankind.

Sent his first-bom Son

To come down into the world.

328 TAI-PING-WANG.

His name is Jesas,

The Lord and Saviour of men,

Who redeems them from sin,

By the endurance of extreme misery.

Upon the cross,

They nailed his body ;

Where he shed his precious blood,

To save all mankind.

Three days after his death,

He rose from the dead :

And during forty days.

He discoursed on heavenly things.

When he was about to ascend,

He commanded his disciples

To communicate his Gospel,

And proclaim his revealed will.

Those who believe will be saved,

And ascend up to heaven ;

But those who do not believe,

Will be the first to be condemned.

Throughout the whole world,

There is only one God (Shang-te) ;

The great Lord and Ruler,

Without a second.

The Chinese, in early ages.

Were regarded by God ;

Together with foreign states

They walked in one way.

From the time of Pwan-koo,*

Down to the three dynasties,

* The first man spoken of by the Chinese.

APPENDIX.

They honored God,

As history records.

Phang of the Shang dynasty,

And Wan of the Chow,

Honored God

With the intensest feeling.

The inscription on T'hang*s bathing-tub

Inculcated daily renovation of mind ;

And God commanded him,

To assume the government of the empire.

Wan was very respectful,

And intelligently served God ;

So that the people who submitted to him,
Were two out of every three.

When Tsin obtained the empire,

He was infatuated with the genii ;

And the nation has been deluded by the devil

For the last two thousand years.

Seuen and Woo, of the Han dynasty,

Both followed this bad example ;

So that the mad rebellion increased,

In imitation of Tain's misrule.

When Woo arrived at old age,

He repented of his folly,

And lamented that, from his youth up.

He had always followed the wrong road.

Miog, of the Han dynasty,

Welcomed the institutions of Buddha,

And set up temples and monasteries,

To the great injury of the country.

But Hwuy, of the Sung dynasty,

Was still more mad and infatuated,

329

330 TAI-PING-WANG.

For he changed the name of Shang-te (God)

Into that of Yuh-hwang (the pearly emperor)

But the great God

Is the supreme Lord

Over all the world.

The Great Father in heaven.

His name is most honorable,

To be handed down through distant ages :

Who was this Hwuy,

That he dared to alt^r it ?

It was meet that this same Hwuy

Should be taken by the Tartars ;

And, together with his son,

Perish in the northern desert.

From Hwuy, of the Sung dynasty,

Up to the present day,

For these seven hundred years.

Men have sunk deeper and deeper in error.

With the doctrine of God

They have not been acquainted ;

While the king of Hades

Has deluded them to the utmost.

The great God displays*

Liberality deep as the sea ;

But the devil has injured man

In a most outrageous manner.

God is, therefore, displeased.

And has sent his Son,f

* From this part of the book the reference appears to be to the leader
of the insurrection.

t By God's Son is here meant Hung-sia-tshuen, the leader of the insur-
rection.

APPENDIX. 331

With orders to come down into the world,

Having first studied the classics.

In the Tfhg-yew year (1837)

He was received up into heaven,

Where the afifairs of heaven

Were clearly pointed out to him.

The great God

Personally instructed him,

Gave him odes and documents,

And communicated to him the true doctrine.

Qod also gave him a seal,

And conferred upon him a sword,

Connected with authority,

And majesty irresistible.

He bade him, together with the Elder Brother,

Namely Jesus,

To drive away impish fiends.

With the coSperation of angels.

There was one who looked on with envy.

Namely the king of Hades ;

Who displayed much malignity.

And acted like a devilish serpent.

But the Great God,

With a high hand.

Instructed his Son*

To subdue this fiend ;

And, having conquered him,

To show him no favor.

And, in gpite of his envious eye,

He damped all his courage.

By the Son is meant the leader of the insurrection.

332 , TAI-PING-WANG.

Having overcome the fiend,

He returned to heaven,

Where the great God

Gave him great authority.

The celestial mother was kind,*

And exceedingly gracious —

Beautiful and noble in the extreme,

Far beyond all compare.

The celestial Elder Brother's wifef

Was virtuous and very considerate,

Constantly exhorting the Elder Brother,

To do things deliberately.

The great God,

Out of love to mankind.

Again commissioned his Son,

To come down into the world :

And when he sent him down,

He charged him not to be afraid.

I am with you, said he,

To superintend everything.

In the Mow-shin year (1848),

The Son was troubled and distressed,

When the great God

Appeared on his behalf.

Bringing Jesus with him,

They both came down into the world ;

Where he instructed his Son

How to sustain the weight of government.

God has set up his Son

* By the celestial mother seems intended the mother of Jesas.
t By the Elder Brother's wife, judging from the context, is meant tho
wife of Jesus.

APPENDIX. 333

To endure forever,

To defeat corrupt machinations,

And to display majesty and authority ;

Also to judge the world,

To divide the righteons from the wicked,

And consign them to the misery of heir,

Or bestow on them the joys of heaven.

Heaven manages everything.

Heaven sustains the whole :

Let all beneath the sky

Come and acknowledge the new monarch.

Little children,

Worship God,

Keep his commandments,

And do not disobey.

Let your minds be refined,

And be not depraved ;

The great God

Constantly surveys you.

You must refine yourselves well,

And not be depraved.

Vice willingly practiced

Is the first step to misery.

To insure a good end,

You must make a good beginning ;

An error of a hair's breadth

May lead to a discrepancy of 1,000 le.

Be careful about little things.

And watch the minute springs of action ;

The great God

Is not to be deceived.

Little children,

334 TAI-PING-WANG.

Arouse your energies ;

The laws of high heaven

Admit not of infraction.

Upon the good, blessings descend,

And miseries on the wicked ;

Those who obey heaven arc preserved,

And those who disobey, perish.

The great God

Is a spiritual Father ;

All things whatt;vcr

Depend on hira.

The great God

Is the Father of our spirits ;

Those, who devoutly serve him,

Will obtain blessings.

Those, who obey the fathers of their flesh.

Will enjoy longevity ;

Those who requite their parents

Will certainly obtain happiness.

Do not practice lewdness,

Nor any uncleanness ;

Do not tell lies ;

Do not kill and slay ;

Do not steal ;

Do not covet.

The great God

Will strictly carry out his laws.

Those, who obey heaven's commands,

Will enjoy celestial happiness ;

Those, who are grateful for divine favors.

Will receive divine support.

Heaven blesses the good.

APPENDIX. 335

And curses the bad ;

little children,

Maintain correct condact.

The correct are men,

The corrupt arc imps.

Little children,

Seek to avoid disgrace.

God loves the upright,

And he hates the vicious :

Little children,

Be careful to avoid error.

The great God

Sees everything.

If you wish to enjoy happiness,

Refine and correct yourselvea.

ODE FOR YOUTH.*
On the worship of God,

Let the true Spirit, the great God,
Be honored and adored by all nations ;
Let all the inhabitants of the world
Unite in his worship, morning and evening.
Above and below, look where you may,
All things are imbued with the divine favor.

* Each line containing five words, nnd each verse four lines.

336 .TAI-PING-WANG.

At the beginning, in six days,

All things were created, perfect and complete.

Whether circumcised or uncircumcised,

Who is not produced by God ?

Reverently praise the divine favor,

Aad you will obtain eternal glory.

On reverence far Jesus.

Jesus, his first-born Son,

Was in former tinv5s sent by God ;

He willingly gave his life to redeem us from sin.

Of a truth his merits are prcfiminent.

His cross was hard to bear ;

The sorrowing clouds obscured the sun ;

The adorable Son, the honored of heaven,

Died for you, the children of men.

After his resurrection he ascended to heaven ;

Resplendent in glory, he wields authority supreme.

In him we know that we may trust.

To secure saU^ation and ascend to heaven.

On the honor due to parents.

As grain is stored against a day of need,

So men bring up children to tend their old age.

A filial son begets filial children.

The recompense here is truly wonderful.

Do you ask how this our body

Is to attain to length of yeai*s ?

Keep the fifth command, we say,

And honor and emolument will descend upon you.

APPENDIX. . 337

On the court.

The imperial court is an awe-inspiring spot,
Let those about it dread celestial majesty ;
Life and death emanate from heaven's son,
Let every oflBcer avoid disobedience.

On the duties of the sovereign.

When one man presides over the government,
All nations become settled and tranquillized :
When the sovereign grasps the sceptre of power.
Calumny and corruption sink and disappear.

On the duties of ministers.

When the prince is upright, ministers are true,

When the sovereign is intelligent, ministers will be honest :

E and Chow are models worthy of imitation.

They acted uprightly and aided the government.

• On the duties of families.

The members of one family being intimately related,
They should live in joy and harmony.
When the feeling of concord unites the whole,
Blessings will descend upon them from above.

On the duties of a father.

When the main beam is straight, the joists will be regular.

When a father is strict, his duty will be fulfilled ;

Let him not provoke his children to wratli,

And a delightful harmony will pervade the dwelling.
15

338 « TAI-PINO-WNG.

On the duties of a mother.

Ye mothers, beware of partiality,
But tenderly instruct your children in virtue ;
When you are a fit example to your daughters,
The happy feeling will reach to the clouds.

On the duties of sons.

Sons, be patterns to your wives,

Consider obedience to parents the chief duty ;

Do not listen to the tattle of women.

And you will not be estranged from your own flesh.

On the duties of daughters-in-law.

Ye, that arc espoused into other families,

Be gentle and yielding, and your duty is fulfilled ;

Do not quarrel with your sistcrs-in-Iaw,

And thereby vex the old father and mother.

On the duties of elder brothers. •

Elder brothers ! instruct your juniors.
Remember well your common parentage ;
Should they commit a trifling fault.
Bear with it, and treat them indulgently.

On the duties of younger brothers.

Disparity in years is ordered by heaven.
Duty to seniors consists in respect ;
When younger brothers obey heaven's dictates,
Happiness and honor will be their portion.

APPENDIX. « 339

On Oie duties of elder sisters.

Elder sisters, instnict your younger sisters,

Study improvement and fit yourselves for heaven ;

Should you occasionally visit your former homes,

Get the little ones around you and tell them what is right

On the duties of younger sisters.

Girls, obey your elder brothers and sisters,
Be obliging and avoid arrogance.
Carefully give yourselves to self-improvement.
And mind and keep the ten commandments.

On the duties of husbands.

Unbending firmness is natural to the man,
Love for a wife should be qualified by prudence.
And should the lioness roar
Let not terror fill the mind.

On the duties of wives.

Women, be obedient to your three male relatives,
And do not disobey your lords :
When hens crow in the morning.
Sorrow may be expected in the family.

On the duties of elder brothers^ wives.

What is the duty of an elder brother's wife ?

And what her most appropriate deportment ?

Let her cheerfully harmonize with younger brothers* wives,

And she will never do amiss.

340 TAI-PINC^WANG.

On the duties of younger brothers^ tnves.

Younger brothers' wives should respect their elder brothers'

wives,
In humility honoring their elder brothers ;
In all things yielding to their senior sisters-in-law,
"Which will result in harmony superior to music.

On the duties of the male sex.

Let every man have his own partner,
And maintain the duties of the human relations.
Firm and unbending, his duties lie from home.
But he should avoid such things as cause suspicion.

On the duties of the female sex.

The duty of woman is to maintain chastity ;
She should shun proximity to the other sex ;
Sober and decorous, she should keep at home ;
Thus she can secure happiness and felicity.

On contracting marriages.

Marriages are the result of some relation in a former state,
The disposal of which rests with heaven ;
When contracted, affection should flow in a continued stream,
And the association should be uninterrupted.

On managing the heart.

For the purpose of controlling the whole body,

God has given to man an intelligent mind ;

When the heart is correct it becomes the true r^ulator,

To which the senses and members are all obedient.

APPENDIX. 341

On managing the eyes.

The various corruptions first delude the eye,
But if the eye be correct all evil will bo avoided ;
Let the pupil of the eye be sternly fixed,
And the light of the body will shine up to heaven.

On managing the ear.

Whatever sounds assail my ear,

Let me listen to all in silence ;

Deaf to the entrance of evil,

Pervious to good, in order to be eminently intelligent.

On managing the mouth.

The tongue is a prolific source of strife,

And a multitude of words leads to mischief;

Let me not be defiled by lying and corrupt discourse,

Careful and cautious, let reason be my guide.

On managing the hand.

To cut off the hand whereby we are dragged to evil.
Appears a determination worthy of high praise.
The duty of the hand is to manifest respect ;
But for improper objects move not a finger.

On managing the feet.

Let the feet walk in the path of rectitude,
And ever follow it, without treading awry ;
For the countless bye-paths of life
Lead only to mischief in the end.

342 TAI-PING-WANG.

The way to get to heaven.

Honor and disgrace come from a man's self ;
Bat men should exert themselves
To keep the ten commandments,
And they will enjoy bliss in heaven.

THE IMPERIAL DECLARATION OF TAI-PING*
▲N ODE ON THK ORIQIN OF VIRTUE AND TUB SAVING OF THE WORLD.

ITie great origin of virtue is from heaven :

Let us now reverently allude to heaven's ways, in order to arouse

you worthies.
The way of heaven is to punish the abandoned and bless the good.
Repent, therefore, without delay, and get the first start in the race.
Virtue has one general root and origin, which is none other than

correctness :
Successive generations, whether early or late, come to but one

conclusion.

Aim to enjoy celestial bliss,

Free yourselves from wprldly considerations.

Be not dragged away by the host of common feelings ;

Abandon at once the whole mass of vicious views.

The true Spirit who opened out the universe is God alone.

* Thia purports to be from the pen of the chief of the insurrection,
Hung-sia-tshaen, himself.

APPENDIX. 343

He makes no distiDction between noble and base ; he most be re-
verently adored.

God, our Heavenly Father, is the one common parent ;

From of old it has been said that the world consists of bat one
family.

From the time of Pwan-koo, down to the three dynasties,

Both princes and people together honored one heaven.

Daring that period the sovereign honored God ;

The nobles, scholars, and plebeians all did the same :

It might be compared to children among men honoring their
father ;

When both well and ill-informed followed the domestic law.

One feeling pervaded heaven and men, there were no two prin^
ciples ;

And monarchs were not allowed to follow oat their private views.

Let God be worshiped,
In this let all anite,
Whether west or north,
Whether south or east.

Every fibre and thread depends on God,

Every drop and sop comes from the Heavenly Majesty ;

It is your duty every morning to adore, and every evening to

worship, him ;
Reason demands that you should praise him for his goodness and

sing of his doings.
Should men neglect this duty, or worship any other.
Let them prostrate themselves without end, it would be all in vain.
Not only woald it be without benefit, it would also be injurious.
And by thus deluding your own mind, you would incur endless

guilt.
If men did not obliterate their natural conscience.

o

344 TAI-PING-WANG.

They would know that every breath they draw depeuds on heaven.

He created the elements of nature and all material things ;

No other spiritual being interferes with his arrangements.

Let us, then, depend on God alone for assistance,

And never ascribe to idols the honor of creation.

If any should say, that creation depends on idols,

We would just inquire how things went on before they were

set up?
He warms us by his sun, he moistens us by his rain,
He moves the thunder-bolt, he scatters the wind ;
All these are the wondrous operations of God alone ;
Those, who acknowledge heaven's favor, will obtain a glorioui

reward.

Do not worship corrupt spirits ;
Act like honest men ;
Heaven abhors that which is wrong,
And loves whatever is right.

Of all wrong things lewdness is the chief;

When men thus become fiends, hcaVen's wrath is aroused.

Those who debauch others debauch themselves, and they become
fiends together.

Far better to sing of the foot-prints of the gentle deer, and to cele-
brate a virtuous posterity.

Depraved manners overturn men ; who, under such circumstances,
can stand ?

The only way is to reform your habits, and seek renewal of mind.

Yen-hwuy loved learning, and did not repeat his faults ;

His four cautions against improprieties are fit to arouse the mind.

He, who can reform his errors, will soon be free from errors ;

These are the instructions which the ancients repeatedly inculcated,

From of old princes and teachers had no other duties,

APPENDIX. 345

Than merely to proclaim the truth in order to arouse the people.

From of old good government had no other end in view,

Than to induce men by means of right doctrines to improve their

conduct.
Let all who possess bodily vigor and mental intelligence,
Avoid outraging the common virtues and confounding the human

relations.
Whoever is over-topped by heaven and stands erect on this earth,
Should instantly return to the honest, and revert to the true.

Let him resist his devilish inclinations,
And cultivate filial feelings.

The second kind of wrong is disobedience to parents ;

This is a great ofiense against heaven, therefore reform yourselves.

The lamb kneels to reach the teat, the crow returns the food to its

dam;
When men are not equal to brutes, they disgrace their origin.
The dweller at Leih-san lamented, and all nature was moved,
The birds aided him in weeding, and the elephants in plowing,

his ground.
Though exalted to the rank of emperor, and rich in the possession

of the four seas,
His filial piety was such as to move heaven — how could it be

viewed lightly ?
Our fathers, they have produced us ; our mothers, they have

nursed us;
The pains and anxieties endured in bringing us up are not to be

described :
Benevolence like this reaches to the azure heavens, it is diflBcult to

repay it.
How can we by all our filial piety fully display our sincere

15

gratitude I

346 TAI-PING-WANG.

The man of true filial piety regards his parents all his life long,
He discovers their wishes when not expressed by sounds or gestures.
In obeying your parents you show your obedience to God ;
By adding mould to your own roots, you cause your own plant

to flourish :
In disobeying your parents, you show your disobedience to God ;
By cutting and maiming your own roots, you make your own tree

to fall.

Read the ode on the luxuriant southern- wood,

And expand the feeling of brotherhood and sympathy.

The third kind of wrong is killing and maiming people ;

To slay our fellow-men is a crime of the deepest dye.

All under heaven are our brethren ;

The souls of us all come alike from heaven.

God looks upon all men as his children ;

It is piteous, therefore, to behold men destroying one another.

Hence it was that, in former days, men delighted not in murder ;

In virtuous feeling they agreed with heaven, and heaven regarded
them.

In cherishing and tranquillizing the four quarters, they aided the
Supreme ;

Therefore, they were able to superintend the whole, and enjoyed
the protection of heaven.

Yu, of the Hea dynasty, wept over offenders ; and Wan surrendered
the Loh country ;

Hence heaven accorded, and men reverted, to him without he-
sitation.

Those, who take delight in killing people, are abandoned robbers ;

How can they expect to escape misery in the end ?

Pih-ke and Heang-yu, after all their murders, were themselves
slain :

APPENDIX. 347

As for Hwang-tsaou and Le-chin, where are they now ?

From of old, those who have killed others, have, afterwards, killed
themselves ;

Who will say that the eyes of heaven are not opened wide ?

From of old, those who have saved others, have thereby saved
themselves ;

And their soals have been taken up to the heavenly courts.

From of old, those who have benefited others, have benefited them-
selves;

Happiness is of one's own seeking, and is easily obtained.

From of old, those who have injured others, have injured them-
selves ;

Misery is of one's own causing, and is with difficulty avoided.

Do not say that you will not gratify an enemy, and reward none
but the virtuous ;

Do as you would be done by, and you will always do right

Follow that which is faithful and kind.
Cultivate that which is modest and unassuming.

The fourth kind of wrong is robbery and theft ;

That which is contrary to justice and benevolence, do not practice.

Those who form cabals and act disorderly, heaven will not protect.

When iniquities are full, misery will surely follow.

A good man, meeting with wealth, does not disorderly grasp it :

Yang-chin, though in the dusk of evening, would not be deluded

by a bribe.
Ewan-ning, seeing the tendency of Hin's regards, cut connection

with him.
And solitarily roamed the hills and valleys, without changing his

mind.
£ and Tse, resigning the throne, willingly died of hunger.
And Show-yang-hill handed down their names to posterity.

348 TAI-PING-WANG.

From of old the honest and good have cultivated virtuous prin-
ciples ;

Biches and honors are but fleeting clouds, not fit to be depended
on.

If, by killing one innocent person, or doing one act of unrighteous-
ness,

They could obtain empire, they would not allow themselves to
practice it.

If men would but reverently fear God,

And rest contented with the decree of heaven, what further need
of anxiety ?

How can you bear to kill men, and plunder their goods?

That which you take does not, after all, belong to you.

In trade, principally regard rectitude ;
In learning, be careful to live by rule.

The fifth kind of wrong is witchcraft and sorcery ;

Magic arts deceive the multitude, and are a breach of heaven's
commands :

Life and death, sickness and calamity, are all determined by hea-
ven;

Why, then, deceive the people by the manufacture of charms ?

Incantations to procure luck, vows to fiends, and services to devils,

Fastings and processions, are all of no avail.

From of old it has been found difiBcult to avoid death.

How can any by intercessions expect to escape blame ?

From of old wizards and necromancers.

Having involved the world in poverty, have been denuded of hear
ven's help.

The devil's agents, having done service to devils, have brought the
devil upon them ;

The gates of hell are ever open to receive such impious wretches.

APPENDIX. 349

Wishing to increase your store, you only add to your sin ;
Why, then, do you not repent, and early seek a remedy.

Let magic arts be avoided.
Let human conduct be correct.

The sixth kind of wrong is gambling :

The vicious gamester conceals the dagger with which he stabs hia
victim ;

Beware! beware! beware!

The practice is opposed to reason.

There are proper ways of getting money, and success is a matter of

fate;
Do not by deceit and fraud destroy honest principles.
If it be decreed you will get it, why need you gamble ?
If it be not decreed, although you gamble, you will not obtain your

wish.
After all, riches and poverty are arranged by heaven,
Follow, then, your proper avocations, and make yourselves easy

about the rest.
Confucius and Yen-tszc made themselves happy on the plainest

&re ;
They regarded the will of heaven, were content with poverty, and

enjoyed happiness.
The life of man, in the present world, is like a midnight dream ;
In all ages men have exerted themselves to do their duty.

Oh, you multitudes !

Do not say there is no harm in it ;

Every kind of mischief is occasioned by gambling ;

Why do you, my noble heroes, involve yourselves in stupefaction?

The getting of unrighteous gain is like quenching one's thirst with

poison ;
Let all classes of people, then, conduct themselves with patience.

360 TAI-PING-WANG.

The more you gamble the poorer you become ;

Consider the matter well, and reform your ways.

There are those who drive on till they fall into a snare ;

Getting accustomed to opium, they become mad upon it

In the present day many a noble son of Han

Has stabbed himself with the opium dagger.

With regard to the love of wine, it is also a wrong thmg ;

Thriving families ought to guard against the liquor that ruins
households :

Just think of Kfteh and Chow, who presided over the empire,

And included the hills and rivers within their iron rule, yet they
perished through wine.

Moreover, there are the geomancers and the fortune-tellers.

Who attempt to deceive God, and contract endless guilt.

Riches and honors rest with heaven, life and death are sealed by
fate ;

Wherefore, then, deceive the world, with the view of enriching
yourself?

All the rest of the wrong things are too numerous to mention .

In judging of men you must distinguish the minutiae of actions :

If you do not regard small matters, you will, at length, spoil great
virtues :

Before the thick ice is formed, take warning by the hoar frost.

Yu and Tseih were diligent, and anxious to prevent famine :

Hence the one became emperor, and the posterity of the other ob-
tained rule.

Wan, of the Chow dynasty, and Confucius were correct in their
own persons ;

Hence their souls were permitted to go up and down in the pre-
sence of God.

Words of truth

Need not be extended ;

APPENDIX. 351

My soul having been allowed to ascend to heaven,

My words are true and real, without the slightest extravagance.

My parental feelings are strong, and I cannot forget you ;

Words are inadequate to express my feelings, therefore I have thus
enlarged.

Those who accumulate acts of goodness will have plenty of bless-
ings.

Those who accumulate acts of wickedness will have overwhelming
curses;

Those who obey heaven will be preserved, those who disobey
perish.

Honor God and you will obtain glory and honor.

▲N CDS ON COBRECTNESS.

There are a hundred instances of correct conduct :
Let us sing of the hundred correct things.

The truly correct enjoy the emoluments of office ;

The truly correct stand in awe of heaven's decrees ;

The truly correct may become dukes and marquises ;

The truly correct practice virtue and uprightness ;

The truly correct cause fiends to submit and men to respect them ;

The truly correct cause the people to be tranquil, and the country

to be settled ;
The truly correct cause corrupt devils to go far away ;
The truly correct induce the mind of heaven to be favorable.
Yaou and Shun lived in days of renovation and seasons of light,
Because, as princes, they acted correctly.
Yu and Tseih, either in person or in their posterity, obtained the

empire.
Because, as ministers, they acted correctly.
The family of Chow could sing the ode of the " stag's footsteps,"
Because the father of the family acted correctly.

362 TAI-PING-WANG.

In the hall of Yu (or Shun), Koo-sow was rendered cheerftil,
Because, as a son, (Shun) acted correctly.
Wan, of the Chow dynasty, won the hearts of 800 nobles,
Because he correctly served an incorrect (monarch).
Confucius rendered 3,000 disciples submissive to instructions.
Because he, by correct doctrines, converted those who were incor-
rect.
T'hanj:^ and Woo found heaven compliant and the people submissive,
Because they correctly attacked an incorrect (prince).
In the wars of TSoo and Han, Ileang was defeated, and Ixw >'ic-

torious,
Because the latter, by correctness, overcame the incorrect.
Kfich and Chow severally lost the empire,
Because, in the marriage relation, they acted incorrectly.
Chwang and Ling were killed by Tsuy and Ilea,
Because they acted incorrectly towards their ministers.
Scang, the duke of Tsc, was slain in the midst of his days,
Because he acted incorrectly in dishonoring his sister.
Ping, the king of Tsoo, was flogged after his death,
IJecause he acted incorrectly in marrying his daughter-in-law.
The house of Yang held the Suy dynasty for a short time only,
Because, in the filial relation, they acted incorrectly.
The house of Ixi, of the Tang dynasty, met with many misfortunes,
Because they acted incorrectly in the intercourse of the sexes.
Heen-tsung, of the Tang dynasty, threw the empire into confusion.
Because he acted incorrectly in listening to his wife.
Teih-jin-kech was looked up to by every one.
Because he acted correctly in resisting female influence.
Woo-san-sze was put to death by common consent.
Because he acted incorrectly in lusting after women.

Oh, the hundred fnstanccs of correct conduct !
Let us sing of the hundred correct things.

APPENDIX.

3o3

Correctness is that which distinguishes men from brutes,

Correctness is tlie quality most admired in all ages,

Correctness is the quality most honored in heaven's nobility,

Correctness is the original nature conferred upon mankind.

Be correct, and you may enjoy the happiness of heaven,

Be incorrect, and you will fall into the region of hell ;

Be correct, and you may stnnd erect between heaven and earth ;

Be correct, and you may silence scoundrels ;

Be correct, and you may control flatterers ;

Be correct, and you may pass through barbarous regions ;

Be correct, and you may root out the violent and stubborn ;

When the prince is incorrect, the people follow their own inclina-
tions;

"When the prince is correct, the people comply with his commands ;

When the prince is incorrect, his relations will rebel against him ;

When the prince is correct, the whole empire will believe in him ;

When he is incorrect, calamities multiply through his vices ;

When he is correct, blessings are the result of his virtues ;

When the nobles are incorrect, they will at length be overthrown ;

When the rich are incorrect, their riches will soon be scattered ;

When men are incorrect, then they will not be esteemed as men ;

When women are incorrect, they will be looked upon as monsters ;

When a family is incorrect, there will be abundance of diso-
bedience ;

When a kingdom is incorrect, there will be much contention ;

In all time, the correct have been able to manage the corrupt ;

From of old, the corrupt have found it difficult to conquer the
correct ;

From one correct act, happiness and emolument will daily increase ;

From one correct act, misery and calamity will daily diminish.*

• It will bo perceived that tho wholo of the above ode is a play upon
the wotd " correct," which, in its positive or negative form, occurs suty
times.

354 TAI-PING-WANG.

AN ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN OF VIRTDE, FOR THE AWAKENING OP
THE AGE.

From of old it is seen that when a man's happiness is great, he
possesses an enlarged mind ; and a man of an enlarged mind may
be considered a great man : so, also, when a man's happiness is
small, he possesses a narrow mind, and a man of a narrow mind
may bo considered a little man. Thus we see that great mountains
do not despise the little clods, by means of which they become high ;
and large rivers do not overlook the small rills, by means of which
they become deep ; so also a monarch does not disregard the com*
mon people by means of whom he completes his royal estate. All
this comes from the possession of an enlarged mind. In the pres-
ent day, however, it is far different, and also hard to be accounted
for. The maxims of the world are perverse and wicked, while the
minds of men are destitute of feeling : their likes and dislikes are
all dictated by selfish considerations ; hence this nation dislikes that
nation, and that nation dislikes this nation : even with respect to
persons dwelling in the same country, the inhabitants of one pro-
vince, prefecture, or district, dislike the inhabitants of another pro-
vince, prefecture, or district : while the inhabitants of that province,
prefecture, or district, dislike the inhabitants of this province, pre-
fecture, or district : moreover, with respect to persons dwelling in
the same province, prefecture, or district, people belonging to one
village, hamlet, or clan, dislike those belonging to another village,
hamlet, or clan ; and those belonging to another village, hamlet, or
clan, dislike the people belonging to this village, hamlet, or clan.
The maxims of the world and human feelings having been brought
to this pass, how can they do otherwise than insult, encroach upon,
fight and kill each other, and thus bring one another to ruin ?
This arises from no other cause than the possession of contracted
views and a contracted mind. When men of one nation dislike the
people of another nation, and when men of that nation- dislike

APPENDIX. 356

the men of this nation, it is because their views are confined to one
individual nation, and they are ignorant of everything beyond their
own country ; therefore they love those of tlieir own nation, and
dislike those of another nation. So also, when men of one province,
prefecture, or district, dislike the inhabitants of another province,
prefecture, or district, and when the inhabitants of that province,
prefecture, or district, dislike the inhabitants of this province, pre-
fecture, or district, it is because their views are confined to one
particular province, prefecture, or district, and they are ignorant
of everything beyond that province, prefecture, or district; hence
it is that they love those of the same province, prefecture, or dis-
trict with themselves, and dislike those of every other province,
prefecture, or district Further, when the people of one village,
hamlet, or clan, dislike the people of another village, hamlet, or clan,
and when the people of that village, hamlet, or clan, dislike the
people of this village, hamlet, or clan, it is because their views are
confined to one particular village, hamlet, or clan, and they are
ignorant of everything beyond their own village, hamlet, or clan,
therefore, they love those of their own village, hamlet, or clan,
and dislike those of every other village, hamlet, or clan. The
likes and dislikes of the men of the world being of this character,
how is it that their views are not enlarged, and their minds so con-
tracted ? If we carry our thoughts back to distant ages, to the
times of Yaou and Shun, with those of the three dynasties, we shall
find that, in those days, men who possessed anything regarded those
who possessed it not ; that they aided each other in calamity ; that
at night no man closed his doors, and no man picked up that which
was dropped on the road ; that men and women walked on different
paths ; and that in promoting men to office virtue was chiefly re-
garded. Yaou and Shun regretted that they could not sufficiently
supply the wants of men ; what diffijrencc did they make between this
land and that land ? Yu and Tseih were anxious lest the country

356 TAI-PING-WANG.

ehoald be involved in famine ; what difference did they make between
this people and that people ? T'hang and Woo attacked the violent,
and banished the oppressor ; what difference did they make be-
tween one kingdom and another kingdom ? Confucius and Men-
cius wore out their carriages and horses (in going about to teach
people) ; what difference did they make between one state and an-
other state ? It was because all those worthies looked upon the
inhabitants of the whole earth, when spoken of separately, as com-
prising a variety of kingdoms, but, when spoken, of collectively as
constituting but one family. The great God is the universal
Father of all men throughout the world. China, which is near to
us, is governed and regulated by the great God ; foreign nations,
which are far away, are under the same rule. Again, foreign
nations, though far removed, are protected and cared for by the
great God ; and China, which is so near, is under the same grar
cious care. There are many men in the world, but they are all
our brethren; there are many women in the world, but they are
all our sisters ; why, then, should we retain the selfish feeling of re-
garding one border and another boundary ? And why should we
cherish the idea of my swallowing up you, and you overwhelming me.
Confucius said, " In carrying out great principles, let the empire
be considered as public property ; let virtuous and capable men be
selected for public offices ; let truth be the subject of discourse, and
harmony the object of study ; and then men will not only regard
their parents and love their children, but will induce others to do
the same — causing elderly people to fulfill their days with delight,
and middle-aged persons to be of some use in the world, while the
young grow up to a vigorous manhood ; let the widows and desti-
tute, orphans and solitary, together with the sick and disabled,
all have some means of support ; let males have their various
employments, and females each a quiet home. Take care that pro-
perty be not wasted on the ground, still less that it be stored up

APPENDIX. 357

for private use ; take care also that men's energies fail not to be
drawn forth, at the same time let them not all be expended on a
man's self. When pablic morals are thus pure, villainies will be
shut out and have no room for their display, neither will robberies
and rebellions have any scope for development. In such cir-
cumstances you may leave your outer doors open. This is what
may be called a public-spirited age." But now how can such a
state of society be looked for? Nevertheless, when disorder comes
to the worst, order is sometimes elicited ; when the darkness is ex-
trt inc, li;,'ht is found to spring up — this is the usual course of Pro-
vidence. Now " the night is far spent, the day is at hand." We
only wish that all our brethren and sisters throughout the world
would rush out of the devil's false gate, and travel along God's
true road, constantly cherishing a dread of heaven's majesty, and
earnestly complying with the Divine commands ; that they would
mutually study to improve themselves and the world around them ;
that they would severally aim at correcting themselves and then
their neighbors ; that they would together present themselves as a
rock in the middle of the stream, and strive to stem the boister-
ous waves as they are rolling along, and then we shall soon see the
world united as one family, and enjoying universal tranquillity.
How can it be that this perverse and unfeeling world cannot, in a
day, be transformed into an honest and upright world ? How can it
be that this insulting and encroaching, fighting and killing age can-
not, in one morning, be changed, so that the strong no more oppress
the weak, nor the many overwhelm the few, nor the cunning de-
lude the simple, nor the bold annoy the fearful ? In the Book of
Diagrams, it is said, that when our fellow-men are abroad with us
in the wide world, liberality is engendered, which may be consid-
ered an enlargement of mind ; and when our fellow-men are confined
with us in a narrow circle, niggardliness is the result, which may
be denominated a contracted mind. Now, when the mind is en-

368 TAI-PING-WANG.

larged, happiness is great ; and other men's minds become enlarged
likewise ; so, when the mind is contracted, happiness is diminished,
and the minds of others become contracted likewise. Oh, all of you,
who have blood and breath, how can you think of interfering with
the harmony of heaven and earth, and, cherishing views like those
of a frog at the bottom of a well, expose yourselves to the just ridi-
cule of mankind ?

The hymn says —
God is originally our universal Father ;
As the spring to the fountain and the root to the tree, so is he the

true origin.
Liberal hearted, he treats one nation like another ;
Kindly disposed, he regards the inhabitants of earth and heaven

alike.
"When brutes injure each other, it is still improper,
But when neighbors slay one another, it is far more wicked ;
Heaven having produced and nourished us all, we should be har-
monious ;
Let us, then, promote each other's peace, and enjoy tranquillity.

FURTHER EXHORTATIONS OS THE ORIGIN OF VIRTUE, FOR THE
AWAKENING OF THE AGE.

All under heaven belong to one family, and all the people in the
world are brethren. How does this appear ? First, with regard
to their bodies : every man has his parents and his ancestry : al-
though their abodes are distinguished by various boundaries, yet
all the families come from one family, and that one family comes from
one ancestor ; their first origin is, therefore, the same. Secondly,
as it regards their souls : whence do all these souls come from, and
whence do they all originate ? They are all derived from the one
original breath of the great God ; thus one root spreads out into
a myriad branches, and the myriad branches are all referable to
one root. K'hung-keih said, " That which Heaven's decree confer-

APPENDIX. 369

red upon man may be termed our conmion nature." The Book of
Odes says, " Heaven produced all classes of people.'* The Historic-
al Classic says, " Heaven sent down the inhabitants of this lower
world." The truth so luminously expressed in these documents is
far from incorrect In this way the sages considered all under
heaven as one family, and constantly cherished the feeling that all
people are our brethren, while they did not, for one moment, overlook
the interests of the whole world. In latter days, however, we have
heard the incorrect statement, that the king of Hades determines
the period of life and death. But this king of Hades is none other
than the old serpent the devil, who transforms himself in a variety
of ways, to deceive and entrap the souls of men. This is he whom
all our brethren and sisters, throughout the world, should exert
themselves to oppose as vigorously as possible ; but, instead of so
acting, the men of this world perversely stretch forth their necks
towards him : how dreadfully do they by this means forfeit the joys
of heaven, and covet the miseries of hell ! Now, there is a correct
method of judging regarding principles. Generally speaking, those
which prevail in modern times, and were unknown to all antiquity,
as well as those which obtain in our immediate neighborhood, and
are known nowhere else, are to be suspected as false doctrines
and contracted views. According to the lying statements of these
deceivers, the king of Hades determines the period of life and
death : but we beg leave to ask, do any of the classics of China
contain such a statement ? Certainly not. Do any of the sacred
books of foreigners contain such a declaration ? By no means.
If not, whence, then, did it originate ? It comes from self delusions
of the perverse disciples of Buddha and Taou, who, coveting wealth
and greedy of gain, delude people in matters of which they are
necessarily ignorant, in order to profit by the deception ; and in-
duce people to adopt religious ceremonies and processions, in order
that they may fatten on the money paid for them. Moreover, the

360 TAI-PING-WANG.

devil having entered into people's minds, they invent innumerable
tales and lying fabrications to deceive and destroy their fellow-men.
Thus, in the time of the Tsin dynasty, some deceivers falsely asserts
ed that, in the eastern ocean, there were three fairy hills, when the
emperor sent some people into the sea to search for them : from
this sprang all those inventions regarding fairies and genii, so rife
in after-ages, into the origin of which, if we do but inquire,
we shall find that they all came from these inventions of the Tsin
dynasty : verifying the saying, that if you err at first but a hair's
breadth, successive generations, by repeatedly adopting and adding
to the error, and obstinately clinging to it, without relaxing their
grasp, will make the discrepancy to amount to a thousand miles in
width. Thus, also, in the time of Kwang-woo, of the Han dynasty,
some deceivers pretended that if men would but sacrifice to the-
kitchen, they could burn red cinnabar into yellow gold : Kwan-
woo believed them, and sacrificed accordingly : in consequence of
which, from the states of Yen and Tse, a parcel of flying vaga-
bonds came along, and told a number of stories about genii and
hobgoblins. Moreover, in latter ages, we have had unprincipled
men falsely declaring, that the Dragon of the Eastern Sea can pro-
duce rain : whereas this Dragon of the Eastern Sea is nothing more
than a transformation of the king of Hades : while rain comes down
from heaven, as everybody can see. Mencius said, " Heaven abun-
dantly collects the clouds, and causes the rain to descend in tor-
rents ; when the young rice-plants suddenly shoot up." The ode
of the Chow dynasty says, " High heaven is all overspread with
clouds, when it sends down snow in abundance, followed by driz-
zling rain, which, plentifully irrigating our fields, and moistening
them sufficiently, causes the various kinds of grain to be produced for
our use." On referring to the Old Testament, brought fi-om abroad,
we find that, in the days of Noah, the mighty God sent down a
great rain for forty days and forty nights, on account of the

APPENDIX. 361

iniquities and rebellions of mortals, which rain produced a univer-
sal deluge, and drowned the men of the world. Every one of these
statements is established by the clearest proofs, which are open to
the inspection of every observer, showing that rain really does come
down from heaven : and yet, men of this world will believe lying
fables and unfounded stories. Now, if, with respect to this simple
matter of rain, people will allow their natural perceptions to be
obliterated to such a degree as to disregard heaven's abundant
favors, how much more with regard to other things ? As in the pres-
ent day, the unprincipled priests of Buddha not only falsely pro-
pagate stories respecting this king of Hades, but publish a number
of lying fables in a work called the Pearly Record, which they
palm upon the world ; and men, who read without thinking, are fre-
quently deceived by their statements, not considering that the deter-
mining of the period of life and death is no trifling matter : if this
be no trifling matter, it would surely have been referred to in the
books prepared by the various wise men of both Chinese and for-
eign countries, and, having been recorded in their publications,
would have been handed down to subsequent generations. But
now, after examining the books, which wise men, both in China
and foreign lands, have penned and handed down, we only read that
heaven produced and heaven sent down the people of this lower
world, also, that the great God protects and preserves mankind,
but we read nothing about the king of Hades ; we only read that
life and death are determined by fate, which fate is nothing more
than the decree of the great God. with not a syllable about the
king of Hades: we merely read that the great God will judge all
men, and secretly protects them, while he presides over all in his
majesty, but not one word about this same king of Hades. Those,
however, who read without reflection, and do not believe in the ac-
knowledged classics and sacred books prepared both by ancients and

modems, or brought from far and near, but believe in the unfound-
16

362 TAI-PING-WANG

cd assertions of unpriociplcd men, and in the strange statements
that ever and anon get up amongst us, how grossly are they de-
ceived ? This arises from no other cause than their following out
the common feelings of aspiring after longevity, and seeking to avoid
death ; also from their panting after good fortune, and dreading ill-
luck. The deceivers, availing themselves of this common feeling
in order to influence the minds of the generality, make them an
easy prey to their wiles. Thus erroneous doctrines once introduced,
the people of the world greedily believe and follow them : having
believed and followed them long, their perceptions get warped ; and
when their perceptions are warped, their adherence becomes strong ;
and when their adherence is strong, they are slow to detect any
flaw in the system ; and, being slow to detect any flaw in their
8}*stem, they find the utmost difficulty in escaping the snare. And
although the great Go J has from age to age caused wise and intel-
ligent men to appear among them, yet there are none that can
avoid being carried away with the current. This is the reason why
the people of the present day are so bewildered and ignorant of the
great God, also, so stout-hearted and unaffected by the fear of the
great God, that they have fallen into the snare of the devilish ser-
pent, the king of Hades, and involved themselves in hellish ruin,
without being aware of it. What is more to be lamented is, that,
should any of their posterity wish to get some knowledge of the
truth regarding heaven, earth, and man, it does not appear from
what source they are to obtain it. When men become fond of de-
lusions, they do not trace things to their first principles, nor follow
them out to their real results, but listen to error and nothing else.
Taking a general view of the men of this present world, I consider
that though they amount to ffreat multitudes, they are all created
and produced by the great God ; having been produced by God,
they are also supported by God : for every article of food and
clothing they must depend upon the great Grod, who is the univer-

APPENDIX. 363

sal Father of all mankind. Life and death, happiness and misery,
are all determined by him ; whatever men eat or wear is produced
by him. When I look up to heaven, I perceive that the sun and
moon, the stars and planets, the thunder and rain, the wind and
clouds, are all the wondrous eiTccts of his mighty power : when I
survey the earth, I perceive that the hills and fountains, the rivers
and lakes, with the birds and beasts, plants and fishes, are all the
marvelous productions of his mighty energies : all plainly exposed
to view, all easy of discernment : for this he may be considered the
true Spirit ; for this every man throughout the world ought every
morning to worship, and every evening to adore, him.

Some who obstinately retain their errors say, it is true that the
great God onght to be worshiped ; but there must be some who
aid the great God in protecting mankind, just as a sovereign, who,
though he rules the country gen(;rally, yet has a number of officers
to aid him in the government. Such people, however, do not con-
sider, that the ministers of such a sovereign are all appointed by
him to the offices they severally fill, when they are permitted to
aid the monarch in regulating the affairs of state. But with re-
spect to the wooden, stone, clay, and paper images, which the men
of this world set up, we b^ to inquire, whether the great God
ever declared his will to have these set up ? Certainly not. ITiese
all belong to the class of monstrosities which men, whose minds
have been deluded by the devil, have according to their own stupid
views manufactured by their own hands. Moreover, when the great
God, at the beginning, made heaven and earth, land and sea, men
and things, in six days, he appointed thousands and myriads of
angels, in heaven above, to be sent and employed by him : what
need is there that he should obtain the aid of these monstrosities,
invented by mortals, in utter defiance of his high authority ? By
referring to the Old Testament we learn that, in early ages, the
great God descended on Mount Sinai, where he wrote the Ten

364 TAI-PIXG-WANG.

Comraandmentd with his own hand, on tables of stone, and gave
them to Moses. At that time God commanded Moses, saying, I
am the great God, the supreme God ; you men of the world must on
no account set up images, resembling anything in heaven above or
in earth beneath, to bow down and worship them. Now, you
people of the world set up images of all sorts, and bow down to
worship them, in absolute defiance of God's express command ; and
yet you say these various images are to assist the great God in pro-
tecting mankind ; how grossly must your minds have been deceived
and deluded by the devil, so as to fall into such an error as this ?
Can you not think for a moment that, if the great God at the begin-
ning could in six da^-s create heaven and earth, land and sea, men
and things, without the aid of any one, he does not now need any
assistance in protecting mankind ? VTc would also ask you, if the
great (Jod, at the beginning, had only created heaven, and not
earth, what place would you have hatl to stand on, and what fields
would you have had to cultivate ? Certainly none whatever. We
would further ask you, when you had been made the recipients of
God's favor, in making the heavens and the earth for you, if he had
not likewise made the ground to yield the mulberry, the hemp, the
rice, the wheat, the millet, and the pulse, together with plants and
trees, fire and water, gold and iron ; or if he had not made the
water to produce fishes and prawns, the air to contain the flying
fowl, and the hills the roaming beast, together with domestic
animals and such like, what would your bodies have had to wear,
or your mouths to eat ; what materials would you have had "where-
with to provide your breakfast and supper, and what implements
would you have had for your daily use ? None whatever. Again
we ask, though the great God has in his goodness provided these
various things in rich abundance, yet suppose he should withhold
the sun from you, and not let it shine upon you for a year's time ;
or. if he should withhold the rain, and not let it moisten vou for a

APPENDIX. 365

year's time ; or, not cause it to thunder for a whole year, to drive
away evil influences from you, or, not cause the wind to blow for
the same period, and scatter the noxious vapors around you — could
you men of the world get in your crops and enjoy tranquillity ?
Most assuredly not. Again we would ask you, though God of his
goodness were to grant you fruitful seasons and tranquil times, yet
if he were of a sudden to let his wrath arise, and stop your breath,
or take away your life, could you then speak with your mouth, or
see with your eyes, or hear with your ears, or handle with your
hands, or walk with your feet, or plan with your mind ? Nothing
of all these could you do. Finally we would ask, whether all the
inhabitants of the world could, for one hour, or one minute, exist
without the favor of the great God ? Certainly they could not exist.
Seeing, then, that the inhabitants of the world could not exist for one
hour or one moment without the favor of the great God, it appears
clear, beyond all contradiction, that the great God protects and
preserves all men. And if it be so clear that the great God pro-
tects all men, why do you, forsaking him, set up your idols, and
go and pray to them for protection, for food, and for clothing ?

But some of you say. Oh my idol is efficacious. Now it is very
clear that all your blessings come from the grace and favor of the
great God, while you erroneously suppose that they come from the
favor of some corrupt devil. It is scarcely necessary to observe,
that when such corrupt devils dare to claim for themselves the
merit due to heaven's favor, they ought to be eradicated and ex-
terminated; but when you men thus deaden your natural con-
science, outrage heaven's exalted goodness, and, associating with
corrupt devils, involve yourselves in the guilt of rebelling against
the Most High, how stupidly do you behave ! How pitiable is
your case ! It is very evident that there exists a true Spirit who
is most honorable and exalted, the universal Father of all men
throughout the world, who ought to be worshiped and served

366 TAI-PING-WAXG.

every morning and evening ; him you do not worship, but, on the
contrary, worship the foul fiend who deceives and entangles the
souls of men ! How stupid is this ! It is very evident that there
exists a true Spirit who is most efficacious and clearly manifested,
the universal Father of all men throughout the world, who says,
" ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and
it shall be opened to you ;" he it is whom you ought, morning and
evening, to worship and adore ; him, however, you do not worship,
but, on the contrary, worship a variety of wooden, stone, clay, and
paper images, which know not, nor understand, a parcel of stupid,
objects, " which have mouths but speak not, noses but smell not,
ears but hear not, hands but handle not, and feet but walk not."
How still more stupid is this !

However, when the streams arc impure, the cause is to be traced
to the impurity of the fountain ; the errors of subsequent ages are
to be ascribed to the carelessness of those who have gone before.
Throughout the whole world, there is not an individual who, for a
single moment, is not the recipient of God's grace and favor ; how
is it, then, that, in the present day, there are so few who know and
acknowledge the Divine goodness — whence does this evil originate ?
On examining the histoiy of China, we find that from the time of
Pwan-koo, down to the three dynasties, both princes and peo-
ple together honored and worshiped the great God. Some
innovation on this practice, however, occurred in the time of
Shaou-haou, when Kew-le first believed in corrupt devils, and
extended the mischief to the three classes of Meaouites who
followed his bad example. In the time of the three dynasties,
likewise, there was occasionally some attention paid to corrupt
spirits, and the error was fallen into, of employing men to repre-
sent the ghosts of the departed, when funeral rites were performed;
still, during all that time, both princes and people honored
and worshiped the great God, as from the first. When the Tsin

APPENDIX. 367

dynasty arose, a dangerous step was taken, in the superstitious
regard paid to genii and hobgoblins ; while the people sacrificed
to Shun and Yu ; and, in the extremity of their mad perverse-
ness, sent men to the sea to look for the genii. The great God is
only one, and, besides him, there is none other ; "Wan, of the Han
dynasty, however, thought that there were five, and erred most
^n^gioosly. When Woo, of the Han dynasty, was old, he
expressed his r^ret, saying : " Formerly, 1 thought that there
were such things as genii, now I know that they do not exist ;"
but his former practices of sacrificing to the kitchen, worshiping
one of the immortals called T'hae-yih, and sending conjurers into
the sea to look for the genii, were retained as a remnant of
the corruptions that prevailed under the Tsin dynasty. Besides
these, Seaen, of the Han dynasty, sacrificed to Empress lilarth, and
sent men to seek for the golden horse and jasper fowl. Ming,
of- the same dynasty, honored the priests of Buddha, and sent men
into India, to procure the classics of that religion. Hwan, of
the same dynasty, sacrificed to I^aou-tan. Woo, of the Lcang
dynasty, thrice dedicated himself to Buddha ; and Heen, of
the Tang dynasty, went out once to meet one of Buddha's bones,
until Hwuy, of the Sung dynasty, appeared, who changed the
appellation of the great God (Shang-te), and designated him
Yuh-hwang-shang-te, the Pearly Emperor God, dwelling in
the golden palace of the luminous heavens. Now, to say that
be dwelt in the golden palace of the luminous heavens, was not so
much amiss ; but to call him the Pearly Emperor God, displayed in
truth a considerable want of reverence towards him. For the
great God being the universal Father of all creatures under
heaven, no one can be permitted to change his venerable name !
When the emperor Hwuy was afterwards taken by the Tartars,
and, together with his son K'hin, died in the northern desert, was
it not what might have been expected? Viewing the matter

568 TAI-PIXG-WAXG.

from beginning to end, it appears that Kew-le and the emperor
of the Tsin dynasty were the primo off'nders at the first ; while
Waji and Woo, Seuen, Ming, and Ilwan, of the Ilan dynasty,
with II<jen, of the Tung dyniLsty, trod in their footsteps and fol-
lowed their evil example; but Ilwuy, of the Sung dynasty, pro-
ceeded still further in changing the venerable name of the gi-eat
God. It is not to be wondered at. therefore, that, from the Sung
dynasty, down to the present day, a period of 600 or 700 years,
the people of the empire should have been so exceedingly stupe-
fied, ignorant of the great Go«l, and utterly destitute of his fear.
Men are the most noble and intelligent of all visible things ; but
in what do their nobleness and intelligence consist — so much as
in being the sons and daughters of the great God ? Is not this
nobility ? Is not this intelligence ? But all those images of wood
and stone, mud and paper, are m^re matter. Men are more noble
than mere matter, and more intelligent than mere matter. Why,
then, do they not regard themst^lves as noble, instead of regarding
mere matter as noble? Why do they not account themselves as
intelligent, instead of accounting mere matter as intelligent?
During the last thousand or himdred years, there have not been
wanting men who were not infatuated by genii and fairies ; but
when we come to inquire into their characters, we find that they
knew but one thing, and did not know another ; they were clear on
one point, but dark on others ; so that, after all, they did not enter-
tain very elevated views, and see through matters from begmning
to end, so as to find out the deceivableness of these superhuman
and monstrous appearances. Thus, the emperor Woo, of the
northern Chow dynasty, set aside the religion of Buddha, and
demolished improper sacrifices. At the instigation of Teih-jin-
kwei, the emperor of the Tang dynasty burned upwards of
1.700 improper temples. Han yu reproved the emperor for
going out to meet a bone of Buddha. Hoo-teih, during the Sung

APPENDIX. 369

dynasty, burned down an innumerable quantity of improper
temples ; and Hae-suy, of the Ming dynasty, reprobated the per-
formance of idolatrous rites: reviewing all these instances, we
can scarcely say that there were not some possessed of discernment.
But whilst they destroyed, burnt, or reprobated certain things,
which they designated as improper temples, Buddhistic relics, and
idolatrous rites, how is it that they left so many, which they did
not destroy, burn, and reprobate ? how is it that they did not
think, that if the objects which they destroyed, burned, or repro-
bated, really deserved to be destroyed, burned, and reprobated, then
the objects which they did not destroy, burn, and reprobate,
deserved it just as much ? The fact is that, besides the great God,
there is no spirit (god) — all the images of wood and stone, mud
and paper, which have been set up in the world, are subsequent in-
ventions, and the work of men, whoso otherwise intelligent minds,
having been deluded by the devil, and utterly perverted, have been
inveigled by the devilish serpent, the king of Hades. We now lay
open our whole minds to you, and place before you the following
statements : How are mortals to become acquainted with spirits ?
the great God is the true Spirit. How is it, then, that you people
go and bow down to a parcel of images, and thus bring the devil
upon you ? Of all those represented by the images, which you set
up, the virtuous and good must long ago have gone to heaven ; but
the mass consists of nameless noxious inventions, such as those
thought to preside over the four quarters of the world, with the
satellites and myrmidons of that envious devilish serpent, the king
of Hades. From the Tsin and Han dynasties, down to the pres-
ent day, including a space of one or two thousand years, how
many souls of men have been injured and destroyed by this king
of Hades. The proverb says, as pulse jelly is originally water, so
this king of Hades is originally a devil. Why do you not awake ?

If you do not awake now, it will soon be too late. Hear these
16»

370 TAI-PING-WANG.

our sincere words. How are you, men, to become acquainted witli
God (Te) ? The great Gfxl, he is God (Te). The monarchs of
this world may be called kirij^s, and that is all ; but they cannot
be permitted to assume a single atom beyond this. Even the
Saviour Jesus, the first-born son of God, is only called our Lord.
In heaven above and earth beneath, as well as among men, none
can be considereil greater than Jesus ; and yet Jesus was not call-
ed God (Te) ; who, then, is he that dares to assume the designation
of God (Te) ? we should soon see him, for his blasphemous assump-
tions, bringing down upon himself the eternal punishment of hell.
Instead of incurring such a miserable recompense, let me exhort
you to worship the gre;it God, and then you will become his sons
and daughters ; in this life you will experience his favor, and after
death your souls will ascend to heaven to enjoy endless happiness —
how blissful, how glorious, would that be! But if you give your-
selves over to the belief of all kinds of depraved spirits, you will
then become the servjints of the devil ; while you live, you will be
entangled with his wiles, and after death you will be seized by
him and suSIt eternal misery in hell ; how shameful, and how mis-
erable would that be I Reflect now, which of these is to be pre-
ferred. Why do you not, our brethren and sisters throughout the
world, awake ? If you still remain unimpressed, you must be
truly base-born and deluded by the evil one ; having happiness
within your reach and unable to enjoy it, "When there is evident-
ly such a glorious and delightful state of happiness to be enjoyed
forever in heaven, for thousands and myriads of years, you do not
wish to enjoy it ; but willingly transgress the commands of hea-
ven, and join with the evil one in rebelling against the Most High,
until you bring down upon yourselves the righteous indignation
of the great God, who will condemn you to suffer eternal misery
in the lowest hell. How pitiable I — how lamentable ! — Dr.
Medhurst's Translation,

POSTSCRIPT

From time to time, during the progress of the iusurrection, false
reports of the death of Hung-siu-tshuen have been more or lesa
widely circulated. And we observe that this rumor has recently
been started again by the North Chirui Mail, October 4th, 1856,
which further states, that his son has succeeded to the Nanking
throne — Yang, the eastern prince, acting as regent during his mi-
nority. Like similar reports which have preceded it, thi's one,
also, must be considered as greatly in need of confirmation before it
can be credited. In fact, in China, the death of the Emperor, or his
mortal illness« is noised abroad about as often as in the west is the
phpical breaking down of the Emperor of the French, or the failure
of some big '* bull" or " bear" on the stock exchange of London or
New York. By the celestials this is considered as the very best
of all tricks in either trade or politics ; they, in this respect, going
to the opposite extreme of the inhabitants of Siam, who make the
greatest possible mystery of the depth of their Monarch, or of the
White Elephant, and stick with very extraordinary pertinacity to
the dogma, that the king never dies. Hence, in Siam, the foreigner
never can find out when the chief of the state has been taken away ;
whereas, in China, he is told forty times in the year, the Emperor
is dead I

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